Acoustic Condensate Stabilization
Description
Acoustic Condensate Stabilization is a novel technique that is proving to be highly effective and efficient. The stabilization process is driven by dynamic pressure of an acoustic field, causing mass transport of high volatile species into gas phase. The process is non thermal, making it a much safer alternative. The overall process equipment is much simpler and less costly to operate.
Contractor Management
Description
Currently there are a large number of facilities covered by Process Safety Management (PSM) that either use a third party or manage their own contractor safety programs. Numerous compliance audits and National Emphasis Program (NEP) inspections has revealed a serious gap. While these third parties may do an adequate to good job in obtaining contractor information, evaluating statistics, and managing documentation, most fail to meet the requirement outlined in the PSM Regulation regarding contractor evaluations and verification. This gap leaves the host employer vulnerable to significant OSHA & EPA violations and fines. At issue, is the requirements outlined in several sections in the PSM regulation starting in sub-section (f)(4) stating that “the employer shall develop and implement safe work practices to provide for the control of hazards during operations such as lockout-tagout; confined space entry; opening process equipment or piping; and control over entrance into a facility by maintenance, contractor, laboratory, or other support personnel. These safe work practices shall apply to employees and contractor employees” (emphasis added). This indicates that the host employer’s safe work practices apply to not only its own employees, but also to the contractors that perform work in the covered process. The host employer responsibilities are further outlined in sub-section (h)(2)(v) such that “The employer shall periodically evaluate the performance of contract employers in fulfilling their obligations as specified in paragraph (h)(3) of this section. For the host to fulfill PSM obligations regarding contractors, it must verify that the contractor has received safe work practice training, including site-specific requirements, such as but not limited to, the potential hazards that may be present in the facility. The contractor may use their own safe work practices, but this would need to be agreed upon beforehand and the host “must” evaluate each safe work practice to ensure that they are equivalent or more stringent, than their own.
EcoVapors Recovery Systems - Flare LESS Profit MORE
Description
Over the past several years, it has become clear that tank flash gas often contains oxygen, which gas gatherers and interstate pipelines have placed increasing tighter limits on due to its corrosive effect on their steel pipelines and processing plants. So, unless this rich gas can be removed from the oil before it enters the tanks, or the oxygen is removed from the gas, the entire tank flash gas stream is usually incinerated on site. That’s wasteful and generates unnecessary emissions, lost profits, and in some cases royalties, are the most tangible consequences of flaring tank vapor gas, but there are also environmental aspects. Even though the industry has made significant progress in reducing venting and flaring, regulators are having to take a closer look. Flaring significantly reduces site emissions of Volatile Organic Compounds, or VOCs. That’s a good thing. However, it also generates nitrogen oxides, or NOx, as a by-product of combustion, and that’s not good as it also contributes to the development of ground level ozone. In summary, burning off flash gas reduces VOCs, but also contributes to ozone pollution. Once the oxygen is removed, this rich, valuable gas stream can be sold to enhance profits. And, flaring only has to occur in the case of the rare emergency. Now that publicly-traded E&P companies are facing mounting pressure from their institutional shareholders to generate returns on capital instead of growing production at any cost, monetizing tank vapor gas to increase profits and boost returns seems like a no-brainer. Never mind the growing pressure from environmental activists. Removing oxygen from tank vapor gas just makes sense, and dollars too. At EcoVapor we have that solution it is the ZerO2.
Isn’t It Ironic? A Case Study On Dry Seal vs. Wet Seal Centrifugal Compressor Emissions
Description
The EPA has been pushing hard for the conversion from wet- to dry-seal centrifugal compressors for decades in an attempt to reduce emissions from the natural gas industry. Ironically, the opposite may have happened. Data from a recent study by Tora Consulting on centrifugal compressors most commonly found in the industry indicates that emissions from dry seal units are orders of magnitude higher than emissions from their wet seal counterparts. This presentation will provide the ultimate example of “missing the forest for the trees”.
Best Practices for Vapor Recovery Systems to Reduce Venting and Flaring with Economic Benefit
Description
Existing and evolving regulatory requirements require oil and gas producers to reduce venting and flaring of natural gas from their operations. Regulatory agencies tightening venting and flaring emissions include Environment Canada, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (USEPA), U.S. Department of the Interior, state/province environmental and oil and gas mining regulatory agencies. These rules seek to minimize the loss of natural resources and to reduce air pollution emissions. The air pollutants of concern include volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and the greenhouse gases methane and carbon dioxide. The source of the natural gas is primarily flash gas liberated from the storage of crude oil and condensate. The presentation discusses the drivers for reducing venting and flaring and gives a step by step approach to vapor recovery from project identification to ultimate success in sending gas to a gathering or sales pipeline. The characteristics of storage tank vent gas are discussed. Steps include identifying project scope and emission standards, design data needs, best design practices, installation, commissioning and monitoring systems. The use of smart systems to measure and monitor system operation and the amount of gas recovered is included. Also covered is the design and use of vapor recovery towers (VRTs) to reduce the chance of oxygen entering the vapor recovery systems.Supplemental emission controls using vapor combustion units as backups to the vapor recovery system is also addressed. The presentation will also introduce new technologies used to automate the detection and reporting of leaks from open thief hatches used on storage tanks and Linear Rod Pumps.
Flare Gas Composition Analysis and QA/QC & Best Management Practices
Description
The now infamous “Table 13” of the Refinery Sector Rule in 40 CFR 63.670 will be presented and discussed along with a review of the historical approach to the flare gas composition analyzer’s Quality Assurance (QA) requirements. The experts at Spectrum Environmental Solutions, LLC (Spectrum) have been involved with a wide variety of industrial flare related issues within the petroleum and petrochemical related industry sectors including detailed instrumentation support. The presentation will provide an understanding of the periodic analyzer QA requirements as generally provided in EPA Performance Specification 9 for GC’s highlighting the shortcomings of the Table 13 RSR requirements, and some recent Flare consent decrees, to provide possible solutions for a reliable flare gas composition analyzer’s quality assurance demonstration.
Process Burner Flames: The Good, the Bad, and The Ugly
Description
John Zink Hamworthy Combustion field personnel inspect thousands of burners each year. Too often those flames are not only bad but sometimes potentially dangerous. There are a number of conditions needed for good flames. Burners should be operating at or near their design conditions which includes the excess air and draft levels, and the design firing rate (fuel pressure) and fuel composition. The combustion air must be properly distributed, the fuel must be clean, and both the air and fuel must be properly controlled. The burner and its associated equipment (e.g., tile and pilot) must also be properly installed and maintained. There are some visual indicators that should be checked for proper burner operation. These include uniformity (all flames in a given heater should normally look about the same), proper flame color, no leaning between flames or into process tubes, no pronounced hot spots or dark spots on the burner tiles, no irregular flame movement (e.g., no pulsing), and no unusual sounds (e.g., flashback). Bad flames can lead to increased pollution emissions, reduced thermal efficiency, and unplanned shutdowns. Common reasons for bad flames include improper burner maintenance and operation. Dirty fuel is particularly problematic as it can cause fuel injectors to plug which can create multiple problems. Ugly flames can be dangerous and need to be corrected as soon as possible. Examples of these irregular flames include flame impingement, huffing or pulsing, or severely lifted flames. The purpose of this presentation is to discuss proper burner operation and what good flames look like and then to contrast that with lots of examples of improper burner operation including the causes and corrections. This information can be used in the risk-based inspection and performance monitoring processes. Typically, equipment has a function statement (primary/secondary) and performance objectives and ranges. The consequences when the function of the equipment has failed is documented in the earlier processes.
MPV, PRD & MSS Best Management Practices at Refineries & Opportunities for Chemical Plants
Description
Coming soon.
How Do You Feel About Storing Your Emissions Data in the Cloud?
Description
Cloud computing means storing and accessing data and programs over the Internet instead of your computer's hard drive. In order to implement a cloud solution, you need some basic tools to connect your data source(s) to the Internet. Connection to the cloud storage needs to be secure, reliable and accessible. Turn on any new WiFi enable device, click through some prompts and you are connected. Technology made it so easy that it doesn’t even require a conscious thought to participate. Will the same environment that drives my social life translate to my workplace and more importantly, help me successful manage my critical air emissions compliance data. Required tools, feasibility and practicality of using cloud computing for compliance applications will be covered during the presentation.
Boiler and Process Heater Tuning as a Best Management Practice
Description
While most facilities perceive 40 CFR 63 Subpart DDDDD (Boiler and Heater MACT, or MACT DDDDD) as costly regulation, four years of data compiled from the annually and biennially recurring tune-ups indicates the opposite is true. In fact, regular boiler and process heater tuning for natural gas fired sources can lead to considerable cost savings related to fuel use and a simple payback on the tune-ups services within months. The purpose of this presentation is intended to enlighten the audience on the benefits of boiler and process heater tuning, using data compiled from tune-ups performed on nearly 600 combustion sources, and conducted in accordance with the Boiler MACT work practice standard. Also, how a facility can further benefit from the regular performance of these services beyond the regulatory framework.
Conforming to ASTM-D7036: Self-Declaration vs. Third-Party Accreditation
Description
Confidence in test data is paramount to acceptance, and both users and customers want assurance of quality. In general, testing bodies that choose accreditation rather than self-declaration demand a higher quality of work to maintain that accreditation and strive to produce more reliable results. In turn, customers have greater confidence in the accuracy and validity of the data from these testing bodies. Accreditation also provides the industry with confidence that a testing body is subject to regular oversight as a motivator to continually improve their operations. The ongoing verification of compliance ensures that the testing body’s results are consistently dependable and defensible.
Data Collection, Process Automation & Reporting Mobilized for Environmental Health & Safety
Description
Coming soon.
5 Reasons to Digitize your Oil & Gas Crews
Description
Giving O&G crews the digital tools to raise their performance is an overlooked opportunity of potentially immense proportions. You can generate incremental ROI with every job you digitize. Multiply that by all the complex nested jobs within your operations — and stretching across O&G value chains.
Visible Emissions BACT – Digital Monitoring Technique for Opacity
Description
This paper will review 10 years of the evolution of Visible and nuisance emission monitoring process. The evolution overview will include the national and international standards achieved and the operational status of digital visible emission management programs around the world. The paper will address implementation issues encountered and updates made to the standards to accommodate field operations. The paper will address the evolution of camera technology, and the use of the various, hand held, fixed mounted, mobile drones and personal cameras. The paper will explore the various ways these technologies are being used to manage Visible and Nuisance Emission programs around the Globe. The paper will discuss the pro's and con's of the various recording devices and the sources that require opacity monitoring. From the Early Warning System on the Freeway, to the monitoring of visibility on the street corner to estimate PM load, Digital Images continue to excel in the advancement of inexpensive wide area monitors. The paper will conclude with the comparison of the old to the new in terms of information quality and sustainability, while visualizing the path forward over the next decade.