Citgo Reports Emissions at Corpus Christi, TX, Refinery


   
   SECAUCUS, NJ (DTN) -- CITGO Refining and Chemicals has reported air emission 
and excess opacity events at its 167,000-bpd Corpus Christi Refinery East Plant 
in back-to-back notifications filed with Texas environmental regulators.

   The company filed an initial air emission event report with the Texas 
Commission on Environmental Quality on Wednesday (2/25) after its No. 2 Fluid 
Catalytic Cracking Unit (FCCU) at the plant emitted excess opacity during a 
planned restart following maintenance.

   That was after it reported on Tuesday (2/24) an excess opacity emission 
event during a planned maintenance shutdown of the No. 2 FCCU.

   The initial air emission incident began on Tuesday evening at 7:40 p.m. and 
ended at 9:40 p.m. At that time, the No. 2 FCCU Regenerator and Electrostatic 
Precipitator (ESP), identified as emission point 31-PR-1, recorded an opacity 
level of 75% -- nearly four times the permitted limit of 20% under 
Authorization 9604A.

   The incident status remains open as of the report date.

   The excess opacity incident began earlier on Tuesday at 7:00 a.m. and 
concluded at 9:00 a.m and was also recorded at the ESP of the No. 2 FCCU. The 
status of that incident remains open too. 

   Both incidents were related to the planned startup of the East Plant FCCU 
following a scheduled maintenance period, CITGO said.

   The company said in both cases it followed its established FCCU startup 
procedures, which are designed to minimize emissions during the restart process.

   The FCCU unit had previously experienced an unplanned shutdown in August 
2025 due to a control valve failure.




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