Ascend reports upset at Texas acrylonitrile plant

OREANDA-NEWS. Ascend Performance Materials reported a waste heat boiler tripped at its acrylonitrile plant in Chocolate Bayou, Texas on 23 April, causing off-gas to vent to the atmosphere, according to a filing with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

Carbon monoxide, propylene, acrylonitrile and hydrogen cyanide, among other materials, were released during the upset. The boiler was subsequently restarted and the off-gases were reintroduced to the boiler. Subsequent filings with the TCEQ suggest the event extended through 25 April.