Chemical companies such as BASF and Dow are working hard both to identify and deal with the sources of their fugitive emissions. Meanwhile, vendors such as Garlock and Honeywell Process Systems are developing technologies and procedures to make the job faster and more cost-effective.
Fugitive emissions may pose significant hazards to people and the environment as well as sizable economic penalties from loss of materials. “Fugitive emissions cause losses during production, transport and storage. Many of the substances concerned are toxic and it requires know-how and state-of-the-art technology to contain their release,” notes Christoph Moritz, coordinator air quality, BASF, Ludwigshafen, Germany.
To reduce fugitive — also known by BASF as diffuse — emissions, the company implements strategies at its sites that meet local, national and international standards. At the heart of these strategies are three basic rules.
To learn more about emissions, read “Emissions: Plants Plug Away at Leaks” from Chemical Processing.
