Treatment Technology for VOC Emissions from Oil Refineries : Case study of measures taken to minimize VOC emissions at Swedish petrochemical companies to be appiled at Chineses Refineries

Sammanfattning: The aim of this thesis is to give suggestions on what measures to take to improve the VOC emission situation in refineries in Tianjin, China, through existing technologies in refineries in Sweden. This has been done by identifying the main places of leakage in oil refineries in Sweden, identifying what VOC compounds are emitted from the plants and the amounts emitted, mapping out different measures taken by oil refineries in Sweden to minimize VOC emissions, evaluating the different measures and suggesting how to move forward with VOC control in Tianjin. Six case studies have been done in Sweden; at Preemraff Lysekil, Shell refinery in Gothenburg, Berg depot Statoil Sweden situated in Nacka, Nynas refinery situated in Nynäshamn, Scandinavian Tank Storage situated in Torshamnen and Oxelösund harbor. Two case studies at Chinese refineries were made, PetroChina Dagang Petrohemical Company and China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation, Sinopec, Tianjin Branch, both situated in Tianjin Binhai New Area. Since the data retrieved from the Chinese refineries is insufficient to make a qualitative evaluation of the state of their VOC treatment it is not possible to propose measures for these two refineries. Instead this evaluation is focused on general problems and solutions at refineries and gives an idea of what can be done to improve the VOC emission situation at refineries. The report contains an evaluation of internal measures and technical solutions at Swedish refineries and other petrochemical companies. The evaluation is focused as much as possible on the Chinese situation. The technologies have been evaluated from an environmental, technical and economical point of view. This has resulted in recommendations for refineries that wish to enhance their VOC control.