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Focus Manutenzione e valvole per impianti industriali INFORMAZIONE PUBBLICITARIA

TC2

The relevance of standard

valve design

In industrial plants, fugitive emission defi nes discharges of
gasses, vapors or liquids from pressure-containing facilities,
whose components like valves, pumps or piping fl anges
leak unintentionally. This is the reason why the term fugitive
is used: these emissions are undesirable and unpredicta-
ble, as they cannot be taken into account during the design
process. These leakages are sudden and unattended, as
they are not detected by control devices and monitoring
systems.

Negative effects of fugitive emission
Fugitive emission is a phenomenon that occurs in different
industries, especially in oil and gas, in refi neries and petro-
chemical plants, but also in the automotive sector. It beco-
mes clear that the consequences affect health, safety and The negative impact comes also from toxic compounds
environmental protection. Fugitive emission became then such as hydrogen sulfi de which are undesirable by-pro-
a serious concern to workers in the previously mentioned ducts of oil and gas and are extremely toxic, corrosive, and
industries all across the globe. fl ammable, even considering the fact that it could lead to
Air pollutants that could leak through these components loss of consciousness for a human being.
could come in two forms: gasses, including carbon mono- The repercussions would then affect not only the industry
xide and sulfur dioxide, and nongaseous compounds, like but also human and animal life. The pressure from the public
dust and smoke. Moreover oil and gas hydrocarbons are was a key factor to approve regulations from governments
wasted, resulting in production losses and risks for fi re and but also from environment programs. Companies that pro-
explosion. duce a high amount of fugitive emissions could be fi ned, as
Environmental pollution is the most serious negative impact some local regulatory boards charge annual fees based on
of fugitive emission, as it contributes to the greenhouse ef- the total emissions from facilities and equipment.
fect. This process causes the earth to warm much more
than it should resulting in global warming, and the gasses Valves as the main source of fugitive emission
that contribute include carbon dioxide and methane. Industrial valves are tremendous sources of emissions, as a
research by the University of British Columbia in Vancouver
found that they are responsible for 50-60% of the fugitive
emissions coming from chemical plants and refi neries, not
considering relief valves that contribute to another 5% of
emissions. Pressure relief valves have indeed a critical role
in fugitive emission issues, as there is no standard or esta-
blished practice on their control, while other typologies are
addressed in the fugitive emission standards.
In a typical refi nery or chemical plant, where approximately
10,000 to 15,000 valves may exist, about 80% of the emis-
sions are caused by valve leakages, while the remaining
20% comes from other joints. Therefore, the most effective
way to reduce fugitive emissions is to bring innovative me-

62 62 Impiantistica Italiana - Settembre-Ottobre 2022