Fugitive Emissions Working Group

Focusing on issues which are of common interest across the Divisions. Working Group Members drawn from throughout the sealing industry, technical institutes, OEM,s and end users as appropriate.

Aims

	development and harmonisation of practicable emission standards and legislation across the EU and other regions where appropriate
	contributing to a safer, cleaner environment

One of the key priorities for the ESA is the environmental challenge which is facing users, particularly in the petrochemical, chemical and allied fields. It is recognised that industry must reduce its impact on the environment if we are to continue global development for future generations (the so-called "sustainable development" option). A major contributory factor will be through the lowering of industrial emissions, which has been catalysed by a combination of public pressure, environmental legislation and the internal requirement to minimise the loss of valuable feed-stocks. A large proportion of the emissions to atmosphere are represented by the by-products of combustion (notably the oxides of carbon, nitrogen and sulphur), along with known losses of volatile hydrocarbons and steam. In general, these are all emissions anticipated from the industrial process, under the control of the plant operator, and will not be considered further here.

However, a proportion of industrial emissions occurs through unanticipated or spurious leaks in process systems. These equipment leaks are usually referred to as "fugitive emissions", and in this area the sealing industry is playing a vital role, through the development and application of innovative sealing technology appropriate to low or zero emission requirements. Even the definition has taken some care in agreeing, because there has been a great deal of misunderstanding about the terminology here. After extensive discussion, the ESA has defined a fugitive emission as :

Any chemical or mixture of chemicals, in any physical form, which represents an unanticipated or spurious leak from anywhere on an industrial site.

To put the scale of the challenge in perspective, fugitive emissions from leaking valves, pumps and flanges in the USA have been estimated to be in excess of 300,000 metric tonnes per year, accounting for about one third of the total organic emissions from chemical plants, and inevitably mirrored in Europe. Irrespective of any environmental impact which it may cause, this is a tremendous financial burden on industry because it represents a huge loss of potentially valuable materials, and cause of plant inefficiency. Yet in most instances, the true costs to industry are not appreciated, since many of the costs associated with fugitive emissions are invisible.

Leakage from valves is often the biggest culprit, reportedly accounting for around 50% of the fugitive emissions within the chemical and petrochemical industries, while leakage from pumps and flanges represent smaller, but still important, proportions.

In view of this focus, and with the aim of raising the attention of all industry to the crucial role which sealing technology can play in helping industry to reduce emissions, the ESA has organised a range of Conferences

The ESA has devoted considerable time and effort to provide practicable, cost-effective solutions to reducing fugitive emissions. It is usually accepted that leakage from valves is the major cause of fugitive emissions on petrochemical or chemical sites,often reported as accounting for over 50% of the fugitive emissions. Obviously, the major sources of fugitive emissions on each particular site are dependent upon the specific manufacturing facilities involved, so inevitably there are variations! However, it is accepted that leaking valves are usually the major culprit of fugitive emissions.

Consequently, we commissioned a valve emission test programme, awarded jointly to two independent test institutes, the initial results of which were reported at the Conference in Antwerp. We are now collaborating with the valve industry and end users on the next stage in this programme, which is a project supported by the European Commission under the Standards, Measurement and Testing protocol. The key objective of this project is to improve and standardise valve emission test methods for both manufacturers and users. Once again, the initial reports of this work were reported at the Conference in Düsseldorf.

European fugitive emission regulations
More recently, the Working Group has reviewed fugitive emissions regulations in force throughout the major markets of the European Union. It is apparent that the European Commission is not in a position to harmonise emission legislation across the European Union, at least for the foreseeable future. Instead, Member States themselves have introduced a number of pieces of legislation and regulations as appropriate. Although some of these regulations are related, a variety of interpretations are in place. Consequently, acceptable emission levels vary across the EU! See the comparison of European fugitive emissions regulations.

Sealing Technology BAT guidance note
Sealing technology is involved in virtually all of the sectors covered by the EU IPPC Directive. Yet, very limited information and guidance on sealing options is available in most of the BREF notes which have been published to date. For this reason, the ESA has begun the development of a Sealing Technology BAT guidance note, with sections covering the best available techniques for sealing solutions required to meet the IPPC legislation.

Summary of Working Group achievements
ESA Environmental Charter

ESA-Environmental News - regular publication for ESA Members on environmental issues

Technical publications for ESA Members:
                Review of the TA-Luft (April ’94)
                USA Regulations on Fugitive Emissions (June ’94)
                European Emission Legislation (April ’95), updated Nov 2000
                Valve Emission Programme – Market Survey
                Sealing Technology BREF note

Conferences :
                1^st European Conference on Controlling Fugitive Emissions from Valves, Pumps and Flanges (Antwerp, October ’95)
                2^nd European Conference on Controlling Fugitive Emissions from Valves, Pumps and Flanges (Düsseldorf, Sept. ’98)

Technical programmes (conducted by independent test houses) :
                Valve emission correlation programme (February - August ’95)
                SMT Project – Valve emission measurement methods ( October ’97 - 2000)

Review of fugitive emission regulations across the key markets of the European Union (January 2000)

ESA Environmental Charter
ESA Members have committed to contributing towards a significant reduction in fugitive emissions emanating from dynamic and static seals. Much effort has been focused on developing low or zero emission solutions to sealing challenges.