Power failure sets off Shell Bukom refinery's fire alarm

Straits Times 27 Mar 12;

EMPLOYEES at Shell's Pulau Bukom refinery yesterday got a scare when a power failure triggered a fire alarm.

Flames and smoke were seen coming out of a processing plant on the island, said sources.

The power trip had caused the plant's 'flare system' to go off.

Flames and smoke were seen coming from Shell's Pulau Bukom refinery yesterday when a power failure triggered the plant's 'flare system', which allows gases to be safely burnt during operational interruptions. -- ST PHOTO: LAU FOOK KONG

The system allows gases to be safely burnt during maintenance or operational interruptions such as power failures.

When asked, the company declined to elaborate on the incident but said it posed no danger to its staff or the public.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force said it received a call at 10am yesterday about a fire alarm at Pulau Bukom, but the incident was resolved before its arrival.

The National Environment Agency said it has been monitoring ambient air quality at nearby residential estates on the mainland. It said the ambient air quality has remained in the good range.

The refinery produces 500,000 barrels of oil per day. The entire refinery shut down in September last year for nearly two weeks after a fire struck the complex.

Fire alarm at Shell's oil refinery on Pulau Bukom
Sim Ping Khuan Channel NewsAsia 26 Mar 12;

SINGAPORE : A fire alarm was triggered at Royal Dutch Shell's oil refinery on Pulau Bukom Monday morning.

The company reported that "flame and smoke" were visible from the Bukom refinery's flare system.

It said in an emailed statement that the incident was "quickly resolved with internal resources".

Shell declined to say which units, if any, were affected by the incident.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) dispatched units at around 10am to the site after the fire alarm was activated.

The SCDF said in a statement that the incident "was already resolved" prior to its arrival to the site.

The refinery at Pulau Bukom is Shell's largest crude oil distillation facility globally, with a daily production capacity of 500,000 barrels.

It was the site of a fire outbreak last September, which shut the facility for more than a week.

It took more than two months to get back to full production following the September fire.

Shell subsequently declared force majeure on its export obligations to some of its customers.

Shell currently exports 90 per cent of Bukom's products to countries in Asia Pacific, according to its website.

The Pulau Bukom refinery includes three crude distillation units, a sulfur-recovery unit, a hydro-desulfurizer and a high-vacuum unit that supplies a hydrocracker.

- CNA/ch

Shell shuts Singapore refining unit on outage - sources
Reuters 26 Mar 12;

SINGAPORE, March 26 | Mon Mar 26, 2012 1:14am EDT

(Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell Plc has shut a processing unit at its 500,000 barrels-per-day (bpd) Singapore refinery after black smoke was seen at the site, trade sources said on Monday.

It was not immediately clear which unit went down and what caused the outage.

Shell was not immediately available for comment.

The Singapore Civil Defence received a call at 10 a.m. local time about a fire alarm being activated on Pulau Bukom where Shell's refinery is located.

"SCDF resources were dispatched. However our services were not required as the incident was already resolved prior to our arrival," SCDF said in an e-mailed statement.

Shell shuts FCC unit at Singapore refinery, unit being restarted
Reuters 26 Mar 12;

SINGAPORE, March 26 | Mon Mar 26, 2012 3:10am EDT

(Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell Plc unexpectedly shut a fluid catalytic cracker (FCC) at its 500,000 barrels-per-day (bpd) Singapore refinery, and is currently restarting the unit, trading sources said on Monday.

The restart process was expected to be completed soon, one of the sources said.

The reason for the outage was not clear. Shell was not immediately available for comment.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said it received a call at 10 a.m. local time (0200 GMT) about a fire alarm on Pulau Bukom, where the Shell refinery is located.

"SCDF resources were dispatched. However our services were not required as the incident was already resolved prior to our arrival," the SCDF said in an e-mailed statement.

One of 3 crude units still down a day after outage at Shell Singapore plant
Reuters 27 Mar 12;

SINGAPORE, March 27 | Tue Mar 27, 2012 5:13am EDT

(Reuters) - One of three Crude Distillation Units (CDUs) at Royal Dutch Shell's 500,000 barrels-per-day (bpd) Singapore refinery, its largest in the world, is still down a day after an outage that caused the plant to be shut down for a few hours, industry sources said on Tuesday.

The outage occurred after electricity supply to the plant tripped momentarily -- called a power dip -- and a subsequent fire in one of the smaller secondary cracking units, which is part of its 33,000-bpd Long Residue Catalytic Cracker (LRCC) complex.

A Shell spokesperson could not be immediately reached for comment.

On the day of the outage, a spokeswoman had said: "We confirm that the flare system and fire alarm were activated this morning. A disruption at one of the units activated the fire alarm, which was quickly resolved."