Abating fugitive VOC emissions more efficiently

This article summarizes the Concawe study, ‘Techniques for detecting and quantifying fugitive emissions—results of comparative field studies’, that compares the two BAT (best available techniques) detection methods for refinery fugitive emissions (leaks) of non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOC): ‘sniffing’ and ‘optical gas imaging’ (OGI).

The main finding is that the OGI technology is faster and can effectively detect the main leaks. By repairing those leaks, a reduction comparable to that achieved using the sniffing method is achieved, contributing to the total site NMVOC emission reduction.