The Great Plains Synfuels plant near Beulah, ND, which is owned by the Dakota Gasification Co., has been shut down for up to seven days following a fire that damaged three boilers at the facility.

The facility supplies Northern Border Pipeline with an average of 160 MMcf/d, which is used to serve customers in Ventura, IA, said Floyd Robb, a spokesman for Basin Electric, parent of Dakota Gasification.

The fire started at 4.am. Monday and damaged all three of the facility’s boilers, he noted. There were no injuries. The fire was quickly extinguished by the company’s on-site fire team. The plant is assessing damages and making repairs, Robb told NGI.

Robb said the fire erupted when isopropyl ether, a solvent used for dissolving phenols in the gas stream, was fed into the boilers in liquid form instead of as a vapor. The subsequent heat melted the duct work in the three boilers.

The plant expects one of the boilers, which suffered the least damage, to be back in operation by the weekend, Robb said. But the facility will not be able to re-start deliveries to Northern Border until two boilers are in operation, he noted.

The Great Plains Synfuels plant, located just west of Beulah, was shut down for two months over the summer. It was the first time in the facility’s 20-year operational history that it underwent an inspection of its complete system, Robb said.

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