Flint Hills’ Corpus Christi Refinery Reports Flare Event

DAVENPORT, FL (DTN) – Flint Hills Resources reported Saturday (5/23) a 24-hour flaring event at the West Plant of its 269,500 bpd Corpus Christi West Refinery in Corpus Christi, a filing with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality said.

The event began at 9:30 p.m. CT Friday (5/22) and ended at 9:30 p.m. CT Saturday (5/23), the filing said.

According to the details of the event, intermittent flaring occurred from the refinery’s first- and second-stage flare systems following a power interruption.

Estimated emissions included approximately 11,229 pounds of sulfur dioxide, 2,543 pounds of carbon monoxide, 2,047 pounds of propylene, 1,310 pounds of propane, 713 pounds of n-pentane, 526 pounds of benzene and smaller quantities of other hydrocarbon compounds.

The company said personnel initiated measures to assess and minimize emissions following the incident and noted the event remained ongoing at the time the report was submitted. Flint Hills also said handheld fenceline monitoring detected no sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide or benzene readings above reported thresholds.

The refinery primarily produces jet fuel, diesel and gasoline.

DTN reached out to Flint Hills Resources for additional details but did not get an immediate response.