After power failure in the Shell refinery: smoke over Cologne – residents were warned
Created: 08/03/2022, 09:32
By: Benjamin Stroka
At a Shell refinery in Cologne, there was a flare on Wednesday morning (symbolic images/IDZRW assembly).
© Benjamin Horn/Imago & C. Hardt/Future Image/Imago
A power outage at the Shell plant in the south of Cologne caused flare-ups.
The torch fire caused soot formation and unpleasant odors.
Cologne – On Wednesday morning (August 3, 2022), a widespread power failure in a Shell plant in the south of Cologne caused what is known as flare-up activity, reports 24RHEIN.
The result: smoke, unpleasant odors and soot deposits throughout Cologne.
This was announced by the fire department on early Wednesday.
The Cologne fire brigade was in action.
Cologne: smoke and soot - what residents have to do
According to the fire department, there is no acute health hazard.
The first message from the fire brigade was received at 5:51 a.m., the warning app Nina also triggered.
However, local residents should observe the following instructions from the fire brigade:
There is no acute health hazard.
Nevertheless, close windows and doors.
Turn off ventilation and air conditioning systems.
Avoid contact with surfaces heavily soiled with soot.
The fire brigade has already carried out measurements that are said to have been negative with regard to possible pollutants or soot particles in the air.
Nevertheless, the flame at the Shell plant will probably burn a little longer.
"It's part of the security concept," said a fire department spokesman for the
German Press Agency
.
The warnings of the population should be withdrawn in a timely manner.
Power failure at Shell in Cologne: Flare fire causes smoke over the city
The power outage occurred at 2:45 a.m.
The reason was apparently a fault in an upstream network.
According to the police, the power failure caused a flame at the Shell plant in Cologne-Godorf that was visible from afar.
According to the Cologne fire brigade, this flare-up and the resulting combustion smoke could cause odor nuisance and soot deposits throughout the city.
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Shell Energy and Chemicals Park Rhineland
The "Shell Energy and Chemicals Park Rheinland" is a refinery and an industrial site in Cologne-Godorf (North part) and in Wesseling (South part) south of Cologne.
With a total area of around 4.4 square kilometers, the plant is the largest refinery for crude oil in Germany, according to Shell.
In 2020, over 16 million tons of crude oil were refined here.
For several months, Shell has increasingly focused on renewable energies on the industrial site.
In the future, the company says it wants to focus on “sustainable products such as hydrogen, low-CO₂ aviation fuels and biofuels and also on input materials for the chemical industry, for example”.
In the meantime, Shell, as the operator of the refinery, has also made a statement.
As a result, the systems at the Cologne-Godorf site of the Energy and Chemicals Park Rheinland were affected.
This led to the visible "flare activity with smoke development and noise emissions".
Shell then informed the responsible authorities.
Shell plant in Cologne: torch activity on Wednesday – possible again in the next few days
In the coming days, flare-up activity could occur again due to the restart of the plants, Shell explains.
"The flare is essential for the safety of a refinery and is required by law," said Shell spokesman for the Energy and Chemicals Park Rhineland, Jörg Nielsen.
"For example, when systems are started up and shut down, large amounts of gas can be produced that would be burned by the flare."
(mlu/bs/dpa)
