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Air Repair

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The Petroleum Industry Sponsors Air PollutionResearch

Vance N. Jenkins

To cite this article: Vance N. Jenkins (1954) The Petroleum Industry Sponsors Air PollutionResearch, Air Repair, 3:3, 144-149, DOI: 10.1080/00966665.1954.10467615

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00966665.1954.10467615

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The Petroleum Industry Sponsors AirPollution Research

By VANCE N. JENKINS^

Any one who has been in the Los Angeles area during anextended period of smog, has smelled the odors arising attimes along the Houston Ship Channel, and has flown overthat great pall of coal smoke and dust which at timespractically hides the ground from view from altitudesabove about 5,000 feet in the area roughly bounded by theair lanes connecting Chicago, Boston, New York, Wash-ington, Roanoke, Louisville and St. Louis, does not needto be told that air pollution in those sections of the UnitedStates has become a problem of the utmost importance.

For, to use the popular G. I. expression, "He has hadit." He knows by firsthand experience that air pollutionis real, that it is here now, and he wonders if it is not hereto stay. And, if he has an analytical type mind, he is cer-tain that it is going to get worse before it gets better.

He can see that there is nothing to prevent the situationbecoming worse until a lot more basic knowledge on thetrue nature of it and its causes is acquired and the implica-tions stemming from this knowledge are analyzed correct-ly and logical programs of air pollution prevention basedon experimentally determined facts instead of mere opin-ions and fallacies are worked out and put into operation.

Now the air pollution problems in certain areas of theUnited States did not reach their present magnitudes bya process of mushroom-like, overnight growth. To the con-trary, they arrived at their present status by a process ofslow, gradual increase over a relatively long period of time,during which the population of the nation increasedgreatly. Coincident with the increase in population, therewas, of course, an increase in industrial activity and anincrease in the area of land under cultivation with anaccompanying increase in the amount of finely dividedsoil exposed to the dust raising forces of the winds.

Gradual Change

But the average citizen was not aware of the gradualchange occurring. Only now, when he realizes that therehas been a change and that his children's children maynever have the nostalgic pleasure of recalling the beautyof the American landscape as he remembers it when hewas a child, does he become very much concerned aboutit. And when he does, the chances are that he is inclinedto place the responsibility for the change solely on indus-try or its management.

But what is management? The management of an enter-prise, a unit of industry, is merely a group of men, calledexecutives, who, as the result of possessing certain extraabilities, have been selected to guide the operations of thatenterprise.

*Executive Secretary, Smoke and Fumes Committee, American Petro-leum Institute.

Aside from having the extra abilities which fit them tobecome a part of management, these men are basically nodifferent than the average person who has been reared incontact with the advantages of modern civilization.Among other things, they, even as you and I, like to livein pleasant surroundings which have adequate supplies ofclean, clear, water for drinking, sanitary and recreationalpurposes and lots of good old-fashioned clean, clear,country air for breathing.

The purpose of this paper is to describe the pollutionprevention activities of the petroleum industry whichhave resulted from the recognition, some thirty years ago,by the executives constituting the managements of itsvarious units, that water and air pollution would becomea very serious problem in certain portions of the nationunless well-planned actions were taken to prevent it.

Unfortunately, most of the other industries and mostcivilian units did not heed this early warning. As a result,the situation has become so bad in many areas that boththe civilian and industrial populations have alreadysuffered great economic losses as well as great inconven-iences. And unless the matter is viewed calmly and logi-cally and appropriate measures devised to alleviate thesesituations, a great deal more economic loss and inconven-ience is liable to be met within these same areas beforerelief is found.

Major Problem

Although the growing air pollution problem is ofnational concern, it is not a national problem in the truesense of the word. It is a major problem which is made upof many local problems, many of which, it is true, arequite sizeable problems in themselves.

But each is different from the others because in anyparticular area the topographical conditions, the clima-tological conditions, the meteorological conditions, thetypes of industry and its distribution, and the distributionand habits of the civilian population are unique to that

area.Each of these factors either influences the degree of air

pollution resulting from the emission in that area of agiven amount of a pollutant or is influential in determin-ing the amount and type of pollution which will originatein that particular area.

Therefore, each area is unique with respect to thefactors influencing its air pollution problems and its prob-lems are of a local nature. Hence, the enforcement of alaw or laws, irrespective of origin, whether of local, state ornational, cannot be expected to solve satisfactorily all airpollution problems. In fact, a law which may be applied

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satisfactorily to the air pollution situation in one areamay even delay the alleviation of the situation existing inanother area.

Panicky PeopleThe worst thing that can happen, in many instances, is

the hasty passage of a law or laws for the control of agiven air pollution situation. For in many such cases theirpassage results from a panicky feeling that "there ought tobe a law" and laws drawn for such reasons are likely to bepoorly drawn and based on either insufficient or erroneousdata.

But once a law is on the statute books, there is a tend-ency for those who were in such a panic to get it there torelax and wait for the miracle it was to bring about tooccur. But, as a rule, nothing happens, for the mere exist-ence of even a very poor law that is supposed to solve aproblem tends to inhibit further thought on the problem.

And, unfortunately, in such cases, further thought isexactly what is needed. That is why that passing a law is,in many cases, the wrong way to start about solving an airpollution problem. And passing the wrong law can alsooften be the most expensive and irritating way to ap-proach the problem as far as both the public and industryare concerned.

At the end of the First World War in 1918, the petro-leum industry executives serving on the President's WarAdvisory Committee on Petroleum agreed that their co-operative efforts in behalf of the industry should continue.After considerable thought and discussion, it was decidedto form a permanent organization which would be calledthe American Petroleum Institute. This decision was ap-proved enthusiastically by the industry at large and by1921 the organization of the association now known uni-versally by the abbreviation "A.P.I." was completed and aGeneral Committee on Pollution appointed.

Because the organization was new and the idea of acooperative attack on pollution problems was new also,not a great deal was accomplished by this Committee dur-ing the first few years of its existence, A number of meet-ings were held at which the problems connected with thepollution of navigable and other public waters were dis-cussed and several water pollution surveys were initiated.

Magnitude Clearly DefinedAs a result of these activities, the scope and magnitude

of the problems confronting the industry became moreclearly defined to the Committee members and construc-tive ideas as to how they should be attacked began toemerge. For example, by 1928 a Technical Committee onPrevention of Pollution had been activated and by thefollowing year this Committee had prepared a preliminarydraft on an American Petroleum Institute Code of Recom-mended Good Practice in the Prevention of Pollution.

In 1928 the idea of organizing the American PetroleumInstitute into diyisions was approved in principle. Underthis plan, .the. various activities of the industry were

grouped under the Divisions of Production, Transporta-tion, Marketing and Refining. This organization plan wascompleted in 1929, at which time each Division assumedresponsibility for developing controls for the pollutionwhich might be expected to occur as the result of theactivities of the branch of the industry represented by it.

Under this plan, the specific assignments accepted bythe Divisions were as follows:

(a) The Division of Production undertook to preventstream pollution resulting from oil field operations bystudying the problem of oil field waste disposal for thepurpose of developing the information and techniques nec-essary to provide satisfactory treatment of such wastes.

(b) The Division of Transportation agreed to developinformation necessary to work out methods for the pre-vention of the pollution of navigable waters.

(c) The Division of Marketing was given the task ofdevising procedures to prevent the pollution of publicwaters by oil escaping from marketing installations.

(d) The Division of Refining accepted the assignmentof developing satisfactory methods for the disposal of re-finery wastes.

RegulationsOver the years intervening since this organization plan

was adopted in 1929, the industry interest in pollutionprevention activities of the Division of Production hasdecreased greatly. This results from the fact that all of theoil-producing states have enacted laws which regulate thedisposal of oil field wastes, and compliance with them isnecessarily handled by direct contact of individual com-panies with the state regulatory authorities.

Although over this same period of time the FederalGovernment has enacted laws regulating the escape of oilto waters under Federal jurisdiction, the Division ofTransportation committee which deals with the preven-tion of such pollution is still very active in assisting theFederal regulatory authorities in preventing pollution ofnavigable waters.

The Division of Marketing distributed a bulletin in 1930on the prevention of pollution by the escape of waste oilfrom filling stations and terminals. Apparently, the cur-rent pollution problems of the marketing portion of theindustry are either of no great importance or are beingdisposed of easily on the basis of techniques developed inthe past because there is little interest at present in thepollution prevention committee activities of the Divisionof Marketing.

The articles contained in this issue of Air Repairrepresent the balance of those given at the BaltimoreAnnual Meeting. Authors wishing reprints shouldfile their requests with Headquarters which will ad-

. vise as to cost for the number of reprints desired.

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The Division of Refining initiated work on its pollutionproblems on May 26, 1930, at which time its Committeeon Disposal of Refinery Wastes was formed. The minutesof the first meeting of this Committee indicate that itassumed responsibility for the continuation of the pro-gram started by the former Technical Committee on Pre-vention of Pollution by stating that its purpose was "Tocollect, summarize and recommend for publication to theindustry, information which will direct and promote goodpractice in the disposal of refinery waste, particularly inthe design, construction, and operation of waste disposalequipment, to the end that refineries of the petroleum in-dustry in America do not release wastes of any kind whichmay interfere with the interests of their neighbors or thepublic in general."

Another Committee

From the time of its organization in 1930, the Commit-tee on Disposal of Refinery Wastes recognized that theair pollution problems confronting the industry would, intime, become of major importance. But, even as late as1938, few refineries were located in areas where the airpollution they at times caused was viewed as an evil whichcould be corrected.

The majority of the people living near refineries eitherworked in them or were dependent upon their operationfor a supply of customers with cash from refinery pay-checks. It was an accepted fact that refineries at timesemitted strange odors and clouds of black smoke and verylittle, if any, thought was given by the public to the nec-essity of their continuing to do so.

With the beginning of World War II, however, thesituation began to undergo a change. The relocation ofwar industries brought large numbers of people into re-fining areas who were not interested in the petroleum in-dustry. And since the refineries were there when theycame, it was easy to persuade them that the growing airpollution problem was caused by refineries rather than bythe new industries .and the people who had moved in toman such plants.

Attitude Changed

This change in attitude first became evident on theWest Coast which experienced the greatest increase inwar time population. It became evident several years agothat, in addition to the technology of handling wastegases and dusts within refinery limits, it was desirable toacquire information pertaining to the composition of theair outside refinery limits since it was apparent that theair pollution in certain areas, said to be caused by refin-eries, might be due to other sources.

As a result, a new American Petroleum Institute com-mittee has been formed to foster development of informa-tion relative to the true nature and causes of air pollutionof a certain type. The details of the organization of thiscommittee and of its proposed program will be given later,but first let us review the factors leading up to the deci-sion to create such a committee.

As pointed out earlier, the population of the WestCoast began to increase at a very great rate during WorldWar II. This increase was particularly large in the LosAngeles area. And, accompanying the increase in popula-tion, there was a corresponding increase in the number ofautomobiles, trucks and buses, of home fireplaces, gasranges, hot water heaters, of home furnaces and backyardincinerators.

There also was an increase in industrial activity, new in-dustries being created and the ones already in existence,such as steel making, aircraft building, lumber workingand petroleum refining, being greatly expanded. As a re-sult, the frequency of the occurrence of an objectionabledegree of air pollution also increased .

Conscious of the pre-eminence of Southern Californiaas a vacationing paradise for the remainder of the nation,certain units of the public press began to wage a campaigndesigned to awaken the citizenry to the danger resultingfrom the possibility of the area losing its lucrative touristtraffic if the growing air pollution menace were not over-come.

Speakers who had been helpful in mitigating the airpollution problems in other cities were imported and theygave their opinions as to what should be done to alleviatethe Los Angeles situation. A number of different com-mittees were formed to investigate the situation and, as aresult, it received much publicity.

Refineries Cited

This campaign reached a climax, as far as the petroleumindustry was concerned, on December 11, 1946, when oneof the leading newspapers devoted half of its front page toa reproduction of an aerial photograph of one of the localrefineries and identified it as a unit of the industry re-sponsible for smog.

That afternoon the petroleum industry executives for-merly serving on the Refining Committee of District Fiveof the Petroleum Administration for War were called to-gether. After thorough discussion of the political, econo-mic, scientific, and public relations aspects of the situation,the group organized the Petroleum Industry Committeeon Smog, the purpose of which would be to determinewhat substances composed Los Angeles smog, to what ex-tent the refining industry was responsible for it, and whatsteps would have to be taken by the industry to reduceits contribution to it. Later it became the "Committee onSmoke and Fumes of the Western Oil and Gas Associa-tion." It is still active under this last name and has metregularly each month since its organization.

The task of determining the identity of the pollutantspresent in Los Angeles smog did not prove to be as simplea matter as it was thought it would be. Therefore, in orderto return the industry's scientists who had been loaned tothe project to their regular duties, the Committee inMarch 1947 hired an independent research institution tosolve the problem for it. The then recently organized Stan-

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ford Research Institute was selected for the job and, inApril 1947, it began to assemble personnel, analyse thedata already collected by the industry's scientists, andplan a program for the project.

Large Sums AppropriatedSince that time, the seven refining companies originally

represented on the Committee on Smoke and Fumes of theWestern Oil and Gas Association have paid out well over$1,250,000 in financing the basic research project andseveral smaller special related projects at Stanford Re-search Institute and for the services of technical menloaned to it before the decision was made to hire StanfordResearch Institute.

As a matter of record, California State Assembly BillNo. 1, which is the enabling act providing for the forma-tion of County Air Pollution Control Districts in the Stateof California, was signed by the Governor and became alaw on June 10, 1947. The Los Angeles County Air Pollu-tion Control District was formed under that law in Octo-ber 1947 but the preparation of its budget, the workingout of personnel requirements and the drafting of its rulesand regulations were not completed until February 1,1948, at which time it actually began to function on a pre-liminary scale.

Thus, the smog investigations financed by the Commit-tee on Smoke and Fumes of the Western Oil and GasAssociation had been in progress for nearly a year whenthe Air Pollution Control District began operations. Sincethat time, it is estimated that the petroleum industry inLos Angeles County has spent some fourteen million dol-lars for new equipment and the modification of existingequipment for the purpose of reducing air pollution.

It is now evident that a large portion of this moneymay have been spent unnecessarily, in that its expendi-ture resulted in no appreciable or noticeable reduction ofsmog intensity in the Los Angeles area. It also is evidentthat much more money may be spent unnecessarily by thepetroleum industry if certain proposed rules and regula-tions for the control of the emission to the air of certainsubstances which may play no part in smog formation areput into effect.

Results PublishedThe results of the research conducted by Stanford Re-

search Institute were published in three Interim Reportsand several Interim Technical Reports which constitutevery instructive and very interesting reading.

They present very clear descriptions of the unique topo-graphical and meteorological conditions which are respons-ible for the relatively small amount of pollutants from theLos Angeles area creating a smog problem of the firstmagnitude.

They also point out the lack at the beginning of theproject of analytical methods sufficiently delicate to de-termine accurately the minute amount of some pollutantspresent in the Los Angeles atmosphere and describe the

development of ones suitable for the determination of cer-tain important contaminants.

Experiments are described which were made with a syn-thetic smog for the purpose of attempting to identify thesubstance or combination of substances responsible forthe eye irritation experienced quite frequently, both inLos Angeles and other cities.

Late in 1950, the Los Angeles County Air PollutionControl District accepted as proven fact a theory on theorigin and nature of smog proposed by one of its consult-ants. This caused a change in the nature of the StanfordResearch Institute program which, since that time, hasbeen concerned largely with investigations designed to de-termine the degree, if any, to which this theory coincideswith facts.

New TheoryThe theory referred to is the one which postulates that

the reduction in visibility, the eye irritation and the cropdamage noted during Los Angeles smog periods are due tofinely dispersed liquid droplets which are claimed to beformed in the atmosphere by the reaction of ozone witholefinic hydrocarbons.

The ozone, in turn, is claimed to be formed by the re-action of nitrogen dioxide with saturated hydrocarbons.Both types of hydrocarbons are assumed by this theoryto enter the air chiefly as the result of the evaporation ofcracked gasoline from refinery processes and storage instal-lations. The nitrogen dioxide is said to originate by oxida-tion of the nitric oxide formed from the nitrogen and oxy-gen of the air whenever fuel is burned at a high temper-ature.

The work at Stanford Research Institute has shownthat there are a number of apparent errors both in thistheory and in its interpretation to account for the variousphenomena associated with smog. As yet, no one has beenable to name the substance or substances which may beresponsible for eye irritation or crop damage and no onehas isolated from smog any substance which has beenshown to be capable of producing eye irritation or cropdamage in the concentrations in which it was found in theair. Actually it appears that air diluted automobile ex-haust gases after exposure to sunlight will come closer togiving typical smog-type eye irritation and crop damagethan any other pollutant yet tried.

Regardless of this fact, the theory adopted by the LosAngeles County Air Pollution Control District has beenwidely publicized and similarly accepted as proven factby a number of other air pollution enforcement agenciesthroughout the nation.

Its acceptance by such agencies indicates that prepara-tions will be made eventually in other locations, as theyare now being made in Los Angeles, to control certaintypes of hydrocarbon emissions which may prove to playno part in causing air pollution of the type known as smog.If so, such unnecessary control would result in large andunnecessary expenditures by the oil industry.

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Therefore, the refining industry as a whole has come tothe aid of that portion of it represented in the Los Angelesarea and will take over the task of fostering the develop-ment of basic information on the nature of air pollutionand attempt to determine the responsibility of the indus-try for causing air pollution which may exist in areas inwhich refineries are located.

This decision was reached at the Mid-Year Meetingof the Refining Division of the American Petroleum In-stitute in May 1952 in San Francisco, during which theformation of the Smoke and Fumes Committee of theAmerican Petroleum Institute under the Chairmanship ofW. L. Stewart, Jr. of the Union Oil Company of Californiawas authorized. At the Annual Meeting of the AmericanPetroleum Institute in Chicago in November 1952, thisCommittee was authorized to solicit the industry for acontribution of $250,000 to be spent during 1953 infinancing a number of research projects designed to de-velop information on certain fundamental aspects of airpollution.

Data ObtainedThe program adopted for the first year consists of about

a dozen projects, some of which were selected for the pur-pose of obtaining additional data necessary to clear upuncertainties remaining in connection with the ozone-hydrocarbon theory of smog formation. This is in line withthe firm belief of the Committee that accurate knowledgeon a subject must be available before accurate decisionscan be made.

If the data developed indicate that legislative controlof hydrocarbon emissions is desirable, then the A.P.I,sponsored research will have resulted in supplying accur-ate information instead of theories and hypotheses, uponwhich such legislation may be based.

If the data indicate that the control of the emission ofsmall amounts of certain type hydrocarbons is not nec-essary in that they do not enter into reaction with otherconstituents of the atmosphere to form harmful sub-stances, then the passage of unnecessary legislation maybe prevented thereby, at a great saving of time and ex-pense, both to legislative and enforcement agencies and toindustry.

For administration of its program, the A.P.I. Smokeand Fumes Committee has set up an Executive Commit-tee of four members, an ad hoc Technical Advisory Com-mittee of five members, and a paid, full-time ExecutiveSecretary. One of the aims of the parent Committee is tobuild up centers of information on the new approach it issponsoring to air pollution by distributing the researchprojects constituting its program as widely as is consistentwith efficient spending of the funds available.

Therefore, in order to obtain information vital to deci-sions concerning the location of the various projects, theExecutive Secretary has visited some twenty-five of theleading universities and non-profit research institutionsthroughout the nation.

On the basis of the information developed, which hasbeen reviewed carefully by both the Technical AdvisoryCommittee and the Executive Committee, a number ofcontracts for projects have been signed already and activework on them is under way. It is sincerely hoped thatresults obtained from the first year's program will be ofsuch great interest that the industry will wish to con-tinue it for another year or longer until the major prob-lems involved have been solved satisfactorily.

Need Thorough InvestigationI would like to refer again to earlier statements concern-

ing the need for thorough investigation and developmentof complete and accurate information on a given pollu-tion situation before legislation designed to cover it is en-acted and the fact that a law designed to improve airpollution might have a reverse effect if not properly andwisely drawn.

As an example of what has occurred in the past, let usreview the history of sulfur dioxide control in Los AngelesCounty. Although the concentration of this gas has neverbeen nearly as high in the Los Angeles atmosphere as inthat over many of the Eastern coal-burning cities, manyof the experts imported to advise on the situation wererather emphatic in their statements to the effect that ifthe sulfur dioxide emissions were reduced or eliminated,the smog and attendant eye irritation would disappear.

As a result, at the first meeting in December 1946 ofthe Committee on Smoke and Fumes of the Western Oiland Gas Association, one of its members was given thetask of determining just how much sulfur dioxide was putinto the air each day in the Los Angeles Basin. At thefollowing meeting in January, 1947, he reported that,based upon the average sulfur content of the various fuelsand the known amounts of each which were consumed inthe Basin, calculations indicated some nine hundred andthirty tons of sulfur dioxide was discharged each day andthat approximately four hundred and thirty tons of thisamount was contributed by the oil industry, chiefly fromthe burning of sour fuel gases containing hydrogen sulfide.

Measures PlannedWith this knowledge in hand, the industry immediately

began planning measures to set its house in order. Thevarious refineries had plants designed and constructed totreat hydrocarbon gases for the removal and recovery ofthe hydrogen sulfide contained in them.

Some of the refiners arranged to dispose of the recoveredhydrogen sulfide by either pumping it through speciallyconstructed pipelines or hauling it in special pressure tanktrucks to existing chemical companies which converted itinto sulfuric acid. Other refiners contracted for disposalof the recovered gas to a new chemical company organizedto produce sulfur from hydrogen sulfide.

As a result of this program, which was initiated volun-tarily before the Los Angeles County Air Pollution Con-trol District was formed, the emission to the air of somefour hundred tons per day of sulfur dioxide is prevented.

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Now the Rules and Regulations of the Los AngelesCounty Air Pollution Control District state, in effect, thatnothing discharged into the air, such as stack gases, shallcontain more than 0.2 per cent by volume of sulfurdioxide.

If a stack does emit sulfur dioxide in excess of this con-centration, a variance must be obtained in order to con-tinue operation of the plant or process from which thestack gases arise.

When obtained, a variance must be reapplied for at six-month intervals at considerable trouble and expense andplans for continuing efforts to reduce the emission to with-in legal limits must be shown for the application to haveany chance of being granted.

The modified Claus process which is used to converthydrogen sulfide into sulfur is not economic when morethan about ninety-five per cent of the sulfur in the hydro-gen sulfide processed is recovered as sulfur. The remainingfive per cent is burned and emitted with the stack gasesas sulfur dioxide. The sulfur dioxide in these stack gasesusually is from about 0.5 to 1.0 per cent by volume andhence is above the legal concentration in Los AngelesCounty.

There are two modified Claus process plants now inoperation in the Los Angeles Basin and application forthe construction of a third is pending. Together, the twoplants now operating recover approximately one hundredand seventy-five tons per day of sulfur which would beemitted to the air as three hundred and fifty tons per day

of sulfur dioxide if they were not in existence. Yet, becausetheir stack gases contain approximately twenty-five tonsper day of sulfur dioxide in concentrations above the legallimit of 0.2 per cent, these plants, to operate, must doso under a variance which may be withheld at any time.It would seem a wise law would encourage the construc-tion of such scavenging plants, the operation of which re-sults in a large overall benefit by making them a specialcase and permitting their operation under even more eco-nomic conditions, such as by discharge from their stacksof up to ten per cent of the sulfur in their feed gases assulfur dioxide at concentrations of up to 1.5 per centwithout the necessity, expense and nuisance of operatingunder the variance system.

As a matter of fact, the refiners supplying these plantswith the hydrogen sulfide they use as feed could burn allof the sulfur these plants recover and emit it to the airas sulfur dioxide from their stacks at less than the legalmaximum concentration of 0.2 per cent by volume. Andthey could save money by doing so. For all they wouldhave to do would be to cease processing their sour gasesfor the recovery of hydrogen sulfide before burning themas fuel. The fact that they have not done so and have nointention of doing so is good evidence that the petroleumindustry is managed by men who want to be good neigh-bors, by men who will go more than half way in cooperat-ing with enforcement agencies in order to be good neigh-bors, even when the laws under which they operate are notbelieved to be wisely drawn.

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