During a power outage at Chevron Phillips Chemical Company in Baytown Tuesday morning, heavy flames and smoke billowed into the air for miles.
Approximately 9:30 a.m. was when the incident began on the 9500 I-10 East Freeway at Chevron Phillips Chemical Company.
A power outage caused an unplanned operational issue at our Baytown facility. As a result of this incident, you are seeing flaring and smoke. The plant's employees and the community are not at risk.
Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience caused by this incident. If the condition changes, additional updates will be posted. When the event is over, an All Clear message will be posted."
How does flaring work? Baker Hughes compiled a list of quick facts for KPRC 2.
Flare stacks are tall, thin structures with flames or steam coming out of the top. The device burns off waste and other unwanted gases at industrial sites.
Controlled burning is commonly used with flare stacks for a variety of reasons: 1) to stabilize well pressure and flow, 2) to manage waste gases that cannot be captured or processed, and 3) to release pressure
Flange stacks are most commonly used in refineries, chemical plants, petrochemical plants, offshore exploration platforms, and landfills.
Flare stacks are mainly used to combust vent gas, most of which is methane. Carbon dioxide (CO2) and water (H2O) are produced when methane (known as CH4) is burned.