Blast at olefins 2 unit cause for explosion at Formosa Plastics

10-Oct-05

11 people were injured in an explosion at Formosa Plastics Texas' unit. The U.S. Chemical Safety Board is investigating to assess the damage at the plant in Point Comfort and decide whether to launch a formal investigation. The possible cause of the blast is under investigation, but it happened in the olefins two unit, probably an ethylene line. The accident was caused when maintenance workers prepared to carry out annual maintenance work. Operations at the ethylene plant have been halted. The ethylene line was original scheduled to start month-long annual maintenance from Oct 15. Resumption of operations at the second ethylene plant has yet to be decided upon. Other plants at the complex have not been damaged and are expected to resume operations soon. The olefins 2 unit had recently been expanded capacity by 1.8 billion pounds pa. The 1,800 acre industrial complex on Matagorda Bay is Formosa's largest facility, and manufactures caustic soda, ethylene dichloride, vinyl chloride, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), suspension resin, ethylene, polyethylene and polypropylene.