PITTSBURGH, US: PPG Industries announced that its chlor-alkali complex in Lake Charles, Louisiana, US experienced a production outage stemming from a major generator transformer failure, which resulted in an electrical disruption and subsequent shutdown of the entire plant. The incident occurred on 28 November 2012 and did not result in any chemicals releases or injuries to plant personnel but did lead to a multiday production stoppage.
The company indicated that following an orderly start-up, the plant resumed partial operations on 30 November 2012. However, power generation continues to be impacted by damaged electrical equipment.
“Plant personnel reacted quickly and appropriately. Due to their efforts, we were able to avert a longer plant outage. Due to the electrical damage, we are still not generating sufficient power internally, so we have begun to purchase power externally. We have commenced repairs to our electrical system and expect completion to take 4 to 6 weeks. We are now running at operating rates sufficient to meet current customer demand, and we expect to be able to continue to meet demand throughout the repair period,” said Michael H McGarry, Executive Vice President, PPG.
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