MOSCOW (MRC) -- The blast happened at Westlake Chemical's site in the city of Sulphur just after 11 pm on Monday night, Sept. 27, reported KPLC News.
It occurred during maintenance at the company's Petro Complex 2 Unit, which processes ethylene, according to spokesperson Joe Andrepont. But there has been no fire as a result of the accident.
AT least six people were injured after an explosion at the cracker in Louisiana with the capacity of 740,000 mt/year of ethylene, reports say. Four of the six have since been released from the hospital, according to company spokesperson Joe Andrepont.
All six people injured were contract employees working on a planned maintenance turnaround, Andrepont said.
The cause of the explosion remains unknown and an investigation into the incident remains ongoing.
As MRC informed earlier, a fire at Westlake Chemical’s Petro 1 Unit in Lake Charles, Louisiana was reported on 25 June, 2021, according to KPLC News with reference to company officials' statement. The fire has been quickly contained.
Ethylene and propylene are the main feedstocks for the production of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), respectively.
According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,396,960 tonnes in January-July 2021, up by 7% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 841,990 tonnes in the first seven months of 2021, up by 29% year on year. Supply of propylene homopolymers (homopolymer PP) and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas supply of statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) subsided.
Westlake Chemical Corporation is an international manufacturer and supplier of petrochemicals, polymers and building products with headquarters in Houston, Texas. The company's range of products includes: ethylene, polyethylene, styrene, propylene, chlor-alkali and derivative products, PVC suspension and specialty resins, PVC Compounds, and PVC building products including siding, pipe, fittings and specialty components, windows, fence, deck and film.
MRC