Remote Sensing Refinery Pollutants

Alex CuclisHouston Advanced Research Center

Eyes in the Sky II WorkshopJune 24, 2010

TexAQS 2000

• A comprehensive Air Quality Study in the Houston Area

• Over $20 million was spent.

• More than 200 scientists were involved.

• Main Finding: Emissions of Highly Reactive Volatile Organic Compounds (HRVOCs) were substantially higher than expected.

Differential Absorption LIDAR (DIAL)Houston Area Ozone Plume Airborne DIALBy NOAA

- 500

- 1000

- 1500

Hei

ght

in m

eter

s

Differential Absorption LIDAR (DIAL)Ozone on the Texas Coast

Air Quality Studies – TexAQS 2006

2000 2006

100

50

Reported

0

Measured

HR

VO

C E

mis

sio

ns

2004

1. HRVOC Emissions dropped 40% between 2000 and 2006.

2. In 2006 HRVOCs were still 10-40 times higher than reported in 2004.

HRVOCs = Highly ReactiveVolatile Organic Compounds

Petrochemical Emissions

• Emissions include nitrogen oxides (NOx) and Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) which in the presence of sunlight form ozone.

• NOx appears anywhere there is a flame, and most can be measured from stacks with continuous analyzers.

• VOCs can literally come from millions of places in a plant and are not easily measured.

Petrochemical Emissions• VOCs leaks are measured with hand-held

analyzers that are typically calibrated with propone and use a flame ionization detector (FID).

Remote Sensing Tools Can Find and Reduce Emissions

Future

DIAL S

OF H

awk

Remote Sensing: Old SchoolCan count the number

of molecules, but cannot calculate the concentration.

Must be mounted in a specific location,

typically ground level.

Light Source

Reflector

IR Camera (LSI or FLIR)Some companies report

that they saved over $1 million/year

by finding and fixing a single leak!

IR Camera (HAWK)

Different Barge with IR Camera

Barge with naked eye

Barge with IR Camera

Detection By Reflection

Method Medium Measures

SONAR Sound

Often Under WaterLocation, Speed

RADAR Radio Waves

High Energy EMLocation, Speed

LIDAR Light Waves

Single WavelengthWind Speed, Surveys

DIAL Light Waves

Dual Wavelength

Concentration, Composition, Location,

Flux

Light Detection And Ranging

DIfferential Absorption LIDAR

Radio Detection And Ranging

Sound NavigationAnd Ranging

Part 3

DIAL History

1. BP – 1979 - 19922. Spectrasyne – 1992 - Present3. NPL – 1990 - Present4. Shell Global Solutions – 1994-20025. Sweden6. API/CONCAWE7. Solar Occultation Flux (SOF)8. Canada9. U.S.

Lasers send dual-wavelength pulses towards

a gaseous plume.

Back-scattered light returns to a

detector assembly.

By Spectrasyne

Differential Absorption LIDAR (DIAL)

Differential Absorption LIDAR (DIAL)

By Spectrasyne

Solar Occultation Flux (SOF)

FTIR

Sun Tracker

Sunlight is the light source for the FTIR mounted inside the

van.

Solar Occultation Flux (SOF)

SOF Measurements at the Houston Ship Channel

Solar Occultation Flux (SOF)

Radial Plume Mapping (RPM) Real-Time Software

Like a CAT scan ofthe atmosphere.

ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES

Quantification Very Expensive

Speciation Analysis Takes Time

Comprehensive Complex

Concentration Plane Requires Expertise

No Thermal Gradient Needed Difficult to Set up

Technology ComparisonDIAL vs HAWK

ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES

Inexpensive Requires Sunlight

Relatively Easy Set-up Daytime Bias

Obtains Full IR Spectrum No Spatial Mapping

Requires Less Time Single Vendor

Similar Results to DIAL Less History Available

Technology ComparisonSOF vs DIAL

Refinery Emissions

Some refineries lose 2 or 3 wine glasses per barrel.

The average refinery in Houston reports losing

about 1 tablespoon of oil per barrel to air

emissions.

Of the 2.3 million barrels of oil processed each day in the Houston area, refineries report emissions of 250 barrels

per day. Measurements at other refineries suggest that it could be closer to 2500 barrels per day.

suggest that refineries in other locations emit about 1 wine glass (4 ounces) of

oil per barrel.

A variety of measuring techniques

Flares?

Tanks-Seals, Landings, “Splatterings”, Fittings

Flares-Minimization, Steam/Air Assist, Flow, Wind

Delayed Cokers-De-heading, Drilling, Fugitives (Alberta and the 2 ½ times factor)

Water Treatment-Recovery, Aeration, Mixing

Emission Sources

Refinery Cokers

http://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/comm/images/RefineryProcess.jpg

Coke drums can be 80 - 100 ft tall and up to 27 ft in diameter.

Drilling derricks on top of the coke drums contain water jets that are used to cut the solid coke out of the drum.