Amoco Corp.'s new Hugoton Jayhawk natural gas processing plant at Ulysses, Kan., will remain closed for several weeks following a July 9 explosion at the plant.
Amoco, operator and sole owner of the 450 MMcfd plant, which is fed by gas from giant Hugoton gas field in Kansas, expects it to be back on line by mid-August.
The plant was shut down after a new heat exchanger exploded, according to a company spokesman in Houston. Two Amoco study teams were dispatched to the Hugoton plant to investigate the cause of the explosion and determine how soon the heat exchanger can be replaced, said Amoco's John Lloyd.
The plant went on stream in May (OGJ, May 25, 1998, p. 28).
Amoco Production Co. supplies 280 MMcfd of the Jayhawk plant's gas offtake. Mobil Corp., Occidental Petroleum Corp., and Coastal Corp. are third-party operators contributing the remaining 170 MMcfd, Lloyd said.
Dry gas from the plant is supplied to Williams Cos. Inc.'s pipeline system in Kansas. Most of that gas is dedicated to Kansas City Power & Light Co.
"We have determined that the plant will be out of service for weeks instead of months," Lloyd added. "We have purchased a heat exchanger already on the market and expect to be in production by mid-August."
The heat exchanger was purchased from Clark Oil & Refining Corp.'s refinery at Hartford, Ill.
Amoco last week said it expects to have about 60 MMcfd of its Hugoton gas production back on line by sometime this week. In order to do that, Amoco will have to shift these supplies to other gas processing plants and pipelines. Williams said it will have no trouble meeting its customers' needs, thanks to abundant gas supplies in storage and reduced demand for gas during the summer.
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