The Woodlands, Texas -- FM Global, a plant insurance company, has given Huntsman a safety seal of approval after the company spent $15m to improve fire standards at its Port Neches PO/MTBE unit in Texas.
Port Neches makes raw materials for polyurethane systems and propylene glycol. It is Huntsman’s largest plant with capacity to produce around 240kT/year of PO (propylene oxide) and around 470kt/year MTBE (methyl tertiary-butyl ether).
Doug Culpon, Global PO/MTBE vp, said the company is building two new PO/MTBE units in China. “We look forward to utilising the best practice risk mitigation learned from the Port Neches Site at these new plants,” he added.
FM Global gave the company the ‘Highly Protected Risk’ Status for Improved Risk Reduction Measures’ after Huntsman retrofitted a number of systems including automatic sprinkler/deluge systems and other equipment to protect the plant and staff against the risk of fire.
