Methods for estimating VOC emissions from primary oil-water separator systems in refineries

Report no. 5/14: This report reviews the different methods available to estimate annual Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) emissions from primary oil-water separator systems in refineries and discusses the results obtained by applying some of these in two field trials carried out in European refineries in 2011.

Average emission estimates over the trial periods were obtained using four published emission factors, three models and an empirical algorithm. DIAL (Differential Absorption LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging)) was also used to derive estimates of short term emission fluxes from remote measurements of VOC concentration.

Each method has been assessed for its adequacy in providing a reasonable estimation of emissions.