AIR QUALITY IMPACTS

O F P E T R O L E U M R E F I N I N GA
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ETDR O C H E M I C A L I N D U S T R I E S

S U B JECT- PT- 3 0 9

S U B MITTE D T O - DR.MANIS H JAI N

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AIR QUALI TY IMPACT S
OF PETROLEU M
INDUSTRIES
INTRODUCTION • Petroleum industry is one of the largest industries in the world and
a vital part of the world’s economy.

• There are significant concerns around the world regarding Air

pollution and air quality impacts.

• These air pollutants can have public health impacts, such as

increasing rate of cardiovascular diseases, cancers and
strokes.

• Air quality management has been somewhat successful in

developed nations but there is further room for improvement in the
case of developing nation.
S O UR C E S Process Emissions: The emissions arise from typical processes that include
separations, conversions, and treating processes like cracking, reforming and
P
OOF LL U T I O isomerization. They are typically released from process vents, sampling points and
safety valves.
F
NR O M TH E
Combustion Emissions: Combustion emissions are generated from the burning of
P ET RO L EU fuels,which is done for production and transportation purposes. Generally,
combustion emissions are released from stationary fuel combustion sources like
M I N DU S T furnaces, heaters and steam boilers, but they can also be released from flares.
RY
Fugitive Emissions: Fugitive emissions include sudden leaks of vapors from
equipment or pipelines, as well as continuous small leaks from seals on equipment.
Sources of fugitive emissions are mostly valves, pump, compressor, and piping
flanges. Fugitive emissions are a source of growing concern, as their effective
control requires ongoing lead detection and (LDAR) programs.
Storage and Handling Emissions: These emissions are released from the storing
and handling natural gas, oil, and its derivatives. This is a potential problem in
every petroleum refining and petrochemical industry. Though transport of many
refinery products is through pipelines, some other means like marine vessels and
trucks also exist, in these cases, there is emissions during material transfer.
Auxiliary Emissions: Auxiliary emissions originate from units like cooling towers,
boilers, sulfur recovery units, and wastewater treatment units. Atmospheric emissions
from cooling towers mainly include gases, which are stripped when the water
phase comes into contact with air during the cooling process.
 • Refineries and petrochemical industries are one of the contributing sources
MA J O R to the degradation of air quality, by releasing various pollutants like
Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) into the surrounding environment.
P O LL U T A N T S
O F C O N C ER • Major pollutants produced directly or indirectly by burning fossil fuels are
Nitrogen dioxide, Sulfur dioxide, Particulate matter (PM10, PM2.5), Volatile
N organic compounds(VOCs), BTX compounds, Moderate percentage of
carbon monoxide.

• The EPA under the clean air act also set standards for 187 other “air toxics”
with serious suspected health effects. These include some oil and gas
components, such as benzene, which is found in gasoline.

• We are going to discuss VOCs, PM, Green house gases and Ozone in
detail.
 VOC
S

• These emissions can significantly lower the air quality and cause short-term and long-term health
impacts for workers, and people living near the sites and in the same region.
• Regulated emissions and leaks both contribute to the VOCs concentration . Aromatic VOCs are
mainly comprised of Benzene, Toluene, Ethylbenzene, and Xylene (BTEX) , and benzene is of
particular concern since it is carcinogenic
• VOCs are associated with a number of potential health effects. Short term exposure to VOCs may
cause dizziness, fatigue, nausea and depression.
• The detection of VOCs in air typically follows one of two strategies, active and passive sampling. In
active sampling, a pump draws air from the sample location through an adsorbent substrate at a
specific flow rate, depending on the type of VOC and concentration to be measured.
• On the other hand, passive sampling does not call for the usage of pumps to draw the air
sample, but uses the principle of diffusion through a static air layer into a collection medium.
• It was assessed that average contributions to total VOCs made by BTEX, aromatic
compounds, halogenated compounds, alkanes and alkenes ranged between 24% and 41%,
8% and 19%, 11% and 19%, 12% and 36%, and 15% and 33%, respectively.
• ◦ it was found that the VOC concentration decreases when wind speed is high, maximum in
summer due to evaporation from fugitive sources, concentrations can be high at night
• it can be observed that the concentrations of all components of BTEX tend to be higher in
Asia, when compared to other continents.
• VOC emission is an increasing problem, with similar scenarios in many major regions of the
world.
 PA R T I C U L M AT T E R ( P
AT E M)
• Particulate matter (PM) is of increasing concern in recent years as studies have shown links
with a variety of health impacts such as respiratory and cardiovascular morbidity, and
even lung cancer.
• Particulate matter of very small diameter is considered to be the most problematic as it
penetrates deep into the lungs, thereby depositing in the bronchioles and alveoli in the
pulmonary region.
• Particulate matter can be classified into two types, namely primary and secondary
particulate matter. Primary particulate matter is directly emitted from the source to the
atmosphere, and a major source from the petroleum refining industry is the Fluid Catalytic
Cracking Unit (FCC)
• Secondary particulate matter is mainly formed in the atmosphere from precursor gases
like SO2, NOx and VOCs, from photochemical reactions or liquid phase reactions in fog
droplets or clouds.
• SO2 and NOx are oxidized to form sulfuric acid and nitric acid respectively. organic
aerosols were the main contributor followed by secondary nitrate and secondary sulfate.
Secondary nitrate Environments 2017, 4, 66 10 of 16 constituted 16.7% of the mass
concentration of measured PM2.5Secondary sulfate was found to be the third major
component, contributing 15.4% to the mass concentration of measured PM2.5.
• There is also the possibility of the presence of metals in the particulate matter due to
the
emissions from this industry
• Apart from these pollutants, petrochemical industries also produce Persistent Organic
Pollutants (POPs), which resist environmental degradation by many processes.
 OZON
E
• Ozone is a secondary pollutant that is formed from the reaction between VOCs, oxides of
nitrogen,
and sunlight. Hence depends on the amount of VOCs, NOx, and also the ratio of VOC/NOx.
• The petrochemical industry can release both ozone precursors and therefore can have a more
direct impact on regional ozone formation. The effects can be worse in summer when
temperatures and ozone production rates are higher. Other factors such as vehicular emissions
also increase ozone formation by contributing to high levels of ozone precursors
• However, from the RIR analysis it was found that ethene and toluene were the main species
contributing to the formation of ozone although ethane was present at higher
concentrations.
• Other than the concentration level of pollutants (VOCs and NOx), another important parameter
to be considered is their photochemical reactivity, determined by the Relative Incremental
Reactivity (RIR) analysis.
 G R EE N H O U S EG A S E
•
S
The petroleum industry consumes a significant amount of fossil fuels for operational purposes, and this
contributes to greenhouse gas emissions. The greenhouse gases associated with the petroleum refining and
petrochemical industries are mainly methane, carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide.
• In recent years, increasing stringent fuel specifications pose a greater challenge for the oil and gas industry
so many refineries meet their heat and electricity needs by producing it themselves from gas, Fluid Catalytic
Cracking coke and fuel oil.
• In this case, the fuel requirement, and hence the greenhouse gases emissions, are higher than they are
for the refineries which procure these utilities from elsewhere.
• Blowdown and purge can also result in emissions of methane, where blowdown refers to the venting of gases
contained in an equipment, pressure vessel, or pipeline, and purge refers to the process of replacing air in
the equipment with other gases.
• There are some solutions for minimizing the energy consumption in processes and thereby the magnitude of
greenhouse gases emitted. Two main approaches are heat integration (heat management) and waste heat
recovery,
ENVIRONMENTAL
HAZAR D S O F Petroleum refineries are regulated by a number of
PETROLEUM environmental laws related to air, land and water.
REFINERIES

Some of the regulations that affect the refining industry

include the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, the Safe
Drinking Water Act, CERCLA, OSHA, TSCA, Oil Pollution Act
and Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasure Plans.

We are going to see the breakdown here i.e.

• Air Pollution hazards

• Water Pollution
hazards
• Soil Pollution hazards
 A I R P O LL U T I O
N H A Z A RD S
• Petroleum refineries are a major source of hazardous and toxic air pollutants such
as BTEX compounds (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene).

• They are also a major source of criteria air pollutants Carbon Monoxide (CO),
Nitrogen Oxides(NOx ), Sulfur Oxides(SOx), Ozone(O3 ), Particulate Matter(PM)
and Lead(Pb).

• Some of the chemicals released are suspected cancer-causing agents, responsible

for reproductive problems, respiratory conditions.

• The combination of volatile hydrocarbons and oxides of nitrogen also contribute

to ozone formation, one of the most important air pollution problem.
 WA T E R P O LL U T I O
N H A Z A RD S
• Refineries are also potential major contributors to ground water and surface water
contamination.

• Refineries use deep-injection wells to dispose of wastewater generated inside the

plants, and some of these wastes end up in aquifers and groundwater.

• These discharge guidelines are regulated under the Clean Water Act (CWA) which
limit the amounts of sulfides, ammonia, suspended solids and other compounds that
may be present in the wastewater.

• Oil spills are also a big hazard to environment, It is a form of pollution described
as the release of a liquid petroleum hydrocarbon into the environment, especially
marine areas, due to human activities.
 S O I L P O LL U T I O
N H A Z A RD S
• Contamination of soils from the refining processes is generally a less
significant problem when compared to contamination of air and water.

• Soil contamination include some hazardous wastes, coke dust, tank

bottoms, and sludges from the treatment processes can occur from leaks
as well as accidents or spills on or off site during the transport
process.

• Natural bacteria that may use the petroleum products as food are often
effective at cleaning up petroleum spills and leaks.
 R E C O MM E N D AT I O N S F OR E M I SS I O N
S R E DUC T I O N

• Petroleum refining and petrochemical industries produce emissions at many stages of the operations. These emissions can
significantly lower the air quality and cause short-term and long-term health impacts for people living near the sites and
in the same region.
• Emissions from storage can be greatly reduced by employing measures such as vapor recovery systems, and using double
seals in storage tanks
• Fugitive emissions can be reduced through proper design, procedures, and good maintenance practices
• Lower NOx burners are available, and SOx emissions can be minimized by desulfurization of fuels
• Usage of low NOx burners lowers the flame temperature and reduces NOx generation.
 CONCLUSI
O N activities, refineries and petrochemical industries can
• In common with various other industrial
affect air quality
• Pollutants like VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds), particulate matter, greenhouse gases and
contribute to ozone formation, conversion, treating, combustion, storage, or even from auxiliary
sources like cooling towers, boilers, and sulfur recovery units lower the quality of air - quantified
by Air Quality Indices and air quality management
• In urban areas, vehicular emission is the main source of VOCs. Rural areas have the least amount
of VOCs when compared to other industrial and urban regions.
• World Health Organization has identified polluted air as the largest single environmental health
risk
• Exposure to poor air quality appears to contribute to health conditions and deaths from COPD,
respiratory infection, lung cancer, and heart damage.
T H A N KY O
U