The president of Ancap, Alejandro Stipanicic, explained what the explosions were that were heard on Friday night from the refinery.
Some noises similar to explosions surprised the neighbors in the area of the Hill, Sand Pass and those who live in the vicinity of the plant The Tilethe refinery that belongs to the National Administration of Fuel, Alcohol and Portland (Ancap) and the main of Uruguay. What was the commotion due to?
Currently, in La Teja the maintenance tasks at the plant, with the aim of being able to reopen it in mid-April to resume fuel production again, an activity that has not been carried out since September of last year. Although the tasks are going at a good pace, the last weeks of rain and wind slightly delayed the schedule.
In this context, at night, neighbors in the area warned of loud noises, similar to pops or “explosions,” that were heard from the refinery. However, the president of Ancap, Alejandro Stipanicic, He provided peace of mind by communicating that the noises correspond to the maintenance tasks being carried out, and that there is nothing out of the ordinary.
“They are blows of air to clean pipes, it is possible that that was what was heard,” he explained, in dialogue with Subrayado. “Cleaning those pipes that made noise is part of the start-up and is prior to inerting the circuits (removing the air) before feeding with flammable product (in the case of this compressor, hydrogen),” he added.
The leader thus made reference to the cleaning of the La Teja plumbing circuit, which is carried out by bursts with compressed air, which releases air at high velocity to clean the line. Those were the noises that were heard at night and were reported by residents of the area.
On the other hand, Stipanicic indicated that the feeding of crude oil to the plant was scheduled to begin this week, but the rains and wind of the last two weeks delayed the work. After the Tourism Weekwork will be resumed and it is estimated that the La Teja refinery will be back in operation in mid-April.
Source: Ambito
