New Delhi, April 26 (IANS). Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) has said that the probable cause of the fire at its joint venture refinery in Rajasthan was a leakage from a pressure gauge of the crude distillation unit. According to the company, the repair work is expected to be completed in three to four weeks, after which the refinery will resume operations in the second fortnight of May.
On April 20, a fire broke out in the HPCL refinery built at a cost of Rs 79,450 crore in Pachpadra, Rajasthan. The incident took place a day before the proposed inauguration of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The fire broke out in the main unit of the refinery i.e. Crude Distillation Unit. According to initial information, the fire was caused by hydrocarbon leakage from a valve or flange in the heat exchanger circuit.
In a filing to the stock exchanges, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited said a detailed investigation into the April 20 incident revealed that the fire was confined to the heat exchanger stack, affecting six heat exchangers and their associated equipment.
“Based on the circumstances at the scene and available evidence, it is believed that the cause of the fire was leakage from the pressure gauge point installed on the inlet line of the vacuum residue exchanger,” the company said.
“Repair work is underway and is expected to be completed in the next 3-4 weeks,” Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited said. The crude distillation unit is likely to be restarted in the second fortnight of May 2026.
The company also said that the commissioning work of other secondary units of the refinery is in the final stages and is progressing as per plan.
Trial production of major fuels like LPG, petrol, diesel and naphtha is expected to begin within May. After this the units will be stabilized and fully operational.
The inauguration program of the refinery scheduled for April 21 has been postponed for the time being. The new date will be announced later.
The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has started a separate investigation into the incident. For this investigation, a four-member team has been formed under the leadership of former Managing Director of MRPL M. Venkatesh.
The risk of fires, explosions and major accidents is high during commissioning and startup at refineries around the world, as this is when hydrocarbons are introduced into new or maintained high-pressure and high-temperature systems.
The central government had said in a statement issued on April 8 that the refinery project was scheduled to start commercial operations from July 1. In the same statement, information was given about the approval of increasing the cost of the project by the Union Cabinet.
Rajasthan Refinery will be the 24th refinery of India and is considered to be the second most complex refinery in the country.
This refinery-cum-petrochemical complex being built in Balotra district of Rajasthan will have an annual capacity of 90 lakh tonnes. There is a special focus on petrochemical production, which is part of India’s strategy to increase value-added production and reduce dependence on imports.
The Nelson Complexity Index of this refinery is 17 and its petrochemical production will be more than 26 percent. It is in line with the standards of efficiency and sustainability globally.
Once fully operational, the complex will produce fuels like petrol and diesel as well as key industrial chemicals like polypropylene, polyethylene and benzene, butadiene.
These products are extensively used in many sectors like transportation, packaging, pharmaceutical and construction.
–IANS
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