Some refining equipment at HD Hyundai Oilbank's Daesan plant in Seosan, South Chungcheong Province, halted operations due to an instrumentation issue but began restart procedures approximately two hours later. No mechanical failures were identified, and recovery is expected overnight.
According to industry sources, starting around 10:40 to 10:50 AM on October 20, some facilities, including the crude distillation unit (CDU) and delayed coking unit (DCU), ceased operations. The CDU is a key facility that heats crude oil to separate it into products like naphtha, kerosene, and diesel. The DCU processes residual oil generated during refining to produce lighter oil fractions.
Initially suspected to be a shutdown due to power supply issues, it was later confirmed that the problem was related to instrumentation. The equipment automatically stopped due to a malfunction in the instruments, and there was no need for mechanical repairs or parts replacements.
However, due to the nature of refining processes, restarting equipment that has stopped requires a certain amount of time. The temperature of the halted equipment must be gradually increased, and the processes must be restarted sequentially. The company is currently following the necessary procedures and expects recovery to occur between the night of October 20 and the early morning of October 21.
The production disruption resulting from the shutdown is expected to be limited. Since there was no equipment failure and restart procedures are underway, the impact on product production and supply is anticipated to be minimal.
An HD Hyundai Oilbank representative stated, "There was an impact on the process operations due to an instrumentation malfunction at the Daesan plant, but immediate action was taken. The affected processes are currently undergoing restart procedures, and we expect no significant impact on production and product supply."
* This article has been translated by AI.
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