(Adds details on later flaring)
HOUSTON, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Repairs on the 110,000 barrelper day (bpd) crude distillation unit at BP Plc's Whiting, Indiana, refinery are expected to take "a few days,"sources familiar with plant operations said on Thursday.
The CDU, which is the 413,500-bpd refinery's second largest,was shut on Wednesday by a malfunction, the sources said. Therefinery's other two CDUs remain in operation.
A BP spokesman declined to discuss operations at the Whitingrefinery on Thursday.
The Whiting refinery is one of 12 across the United Stateswhere members of the United Steelworkers union are striking insupport of a new three-year contract.
The CDU shutdown is the second malfunction at the Whitingrefinery this week. On Monday, a compressor malfunctioned inpollution-reduction system for the gasoline-producing fluidiccatalytic cracking unit, but sources told Reuters there was noimpact to production.
The refinery's safety flare operated for about 10 minutes onThursday afternoon due to a faulty transmitter, the sourcessaid. (Reporting by Erwin Seba; editing by Chizu Nomiyama and GCrosse)