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U.S. Department of Energy
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Control of benzene waste NESHAP emissions from a petroleum refinery

Journal Article · · Environmental Progress; (United States)
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1002/ep.670110119· OSTI ID:7170715
 [1]
  1. Conoco Inc., Ponca City, OK (United States)

This paper discusses the control of benzene emissions from a petroleum refinery as regulated by the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAO) Subpart FF - National Standard for Benzene Waste Operations. This regulation is complex and confusing, but it provides flexibility to achieve compliance through various strategies to control benzene emissions. The first step to achieve compliance with the benzene waste NESHAP is understanding the regulation itself. Therefore, this paper summarizes the regulation to provide the reader with sufficient background to understand why specific controls are required for specific processes. The flexibility provided by the regulation to achieve compliance is not always readily apparent. This paper summarizes some of these subtleties. The author's involvement with an industry trade association in meetings with the Environmental Protection Agency during the development of the regulation allows some of EPA's expressions of their intent and internal interpretation to also be contained in the summary. The second step to achieve compliance with the benzene waste NESHAP is to actually design and operate a cost effective solution for a specific set of existing conditions within a refinery. This paper provides a case study of the equipment necessary to achieve compliance with the substantive requirements of the regulation at a large, integrated refinery. The retrofit requirements are very specific to the circumstances of this facility. Therefore, they will not be a universal, cost effective means of compliance for other refineries.

OSTI ID:
7170715
Journal Information:
Environmental Progress; (United States), Journal Name: Environmental Progress; (United States) Vol. 11:1; ISSN ENVPD; ISSN 0278-4491
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English