Polski Koncern Naftowy SA (PKN Orlen) confirmed a small explosion occurred early Oct. 1 at its 16.3 million-tonne/year refinery and petrochemical complex in Plock, Poland.
The incident, which occurred at an unidentified, remote installation of the olefins plant, injured six workers engaged in external renovation work at the site, PKN Orlen said.
While the precise cause of the incident remains under investigation, the company said the explosion was related to a small ignition of volatile hydrocarbons during work related to the launch of start-up activities at one of the olefins plant’s two production units.
The explosion did not halt start-up procedures on the unit, which still was scheduled to begin production on Oct. 1, PKN Orlen said.
The second production line remains idle and will begin operations once technical service maintenance is completed and start-up activities are safe to initiate, according to the company.
PKN Orlen recently let a contract to CB&I, Houston, for the license and engineering design of a metathesis plant for the on-purpose production of propylene at the Plock complex (OGJ Online, Aug. 21, 2014).
