HPCL aims to restart fire-hit Vizag unit by Saturday

There was a minor fire in one of the vessels of the catalytic reformer due to a leak

Hindustan Petroleum Corp aims to restart a catalytic reformer (CCR) petrol-making unit by Saturday following a minor fire caused by a leak, its head of refineries BK Namdeo told Reuters.

HPCL's 166,000 barrels-per-day (bpd) Vizag refinery in southern India has one CCR and an isomerisation unit.

The plant also has two naphtha hydrotreaters (NHT), each attached to the gasoline-making units of fluid catalytic cracker (FCC) and the CCR.

"There was a minor fire in one of the vessels of the CCR due to a flange leak. We had shut the CCR and attached NHT. The other units FCC-NHT and isomerisation were operational," Namdeo said.

He said the company has already re-started the NHT that had been shut down.

"Testing is now going on for the CCR, hopefully it would be started by tomorrow," he said, adding that there would be no impact on supplies.

Namdeo said the fire was contained within an hour without significant damage to the unit.