Effects of Process Type and Speciation of Flaring on Air Emissions in the Houston-Galveston Area
| Project Period: | 05/11/2007 - 12/28/2007 |
| Total Budget: | $80,738 |
| Sub-Contractors: | Lamar University
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One of the scientific findings of the TexAQS2000 study was that ambient VOC emissions sampled by aircraft did not coincide with the annual emissions inventory (EI). Based on this inconsistency, it appears that some VOC sources may not be recognized as sources and thus not reported in the EI or may be recognized as sources but significantly under reported. Federal regulatory requirements for achieving 98% combustion efficiency (CE) are defined in 40 CFR 60.18. However, this combustion efficiency assumes operation under normal operation mode which may not be valid under startup, shutdown, and malfunction operating modes. Other issues include flare sizing, maintenance, and control. As a result, CEs are known to drop below 70% under various conditions (over steam, high volume, over aeration, etc).
This project advances the goals of TexAQS II, which are to develop and improve the scientific understanding of the causes and formation of air pollution. The project analyzes data gathered by previous studies, specifically focusing on the effect of process plant types and process operating modes on emission rates and species. The specific objectives for this project are:
- To investigate the flare mass flow rate/chemical species as a function of process plant type (refinery/olefin/polymer), feedstock (general hydrocarbon/naphtha/ ethane/propane, etc.) and operation mode (emergency/start up/shutdown/normal);
- To infer the combustion efficiency and emission species based on designed plant/flare operating conditions (mass flow, flare maintenance, etc.);
- To assess the impact of the flare species/flow rates/flare design on the point source emissions inventory; and
- To study possible intermediates/by-products by using Gaussian simulation.
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