Current environmental concerns

The following section outlines some of the current environmental concerns in the world s mature oil and gas development areas. 

When water is produced along with oil, the separation of water from oil invariably leaves some water in the oil. The current oil-in-water emission limit into the sea is commonly 40 ppm. Oily water disposal occurs on processing platforms, some drilling platforms, and at oil terminals. The quality of water disposed from terminals remains an area of scrutiny, especially since the terminals are often near to local habitation and leisure resorts. If the engineer can find a means of reducing the produced water at source (e.g. water shut-off or reinjection of produced water into reservoirs) then the surface handling problem is much reduced. 

The oil and gas industry produces much waste material, such as scrap metal, human waste, unspent chemicals, oily sludges and radiation. All of the incoming streams to a facility such as a production platform end up somewhere, and only few of the outgoing streams are useful product. It is one of the responsibilities of the engineer to try to limit the amount of incoming material which will finally become waste material. 

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The Vision 21 Program [73] is promoting research and innovation to maintain cost-competitive options for using a diverse mix of fossil fuels for power generation. A key element of this program is the effective removal of current environmental concerns and impediments associated with producing electricity and transportation of fuels from fossil fuels, including natural gas, petroleum, and coal. 

The next four papers concentrate on another emission source, hydrogen sulfide from Claus units. The Claus process has been used for several years to remove hydrogen sulfide from petroleum refinery waste gases. However, current environmental concerns require a more efficient recovery of the sulfur values. Some of the new technology to improve Claus plant efficiencies is discussed in these chapters. 

Threats to natural ecosystems from human impacts, including loss of habitat and biodiversity, are major current environmental concerns. From tropical rainforests to Arctic tundra, threats to ecosystems from climate change, pollution, and other human activities are well documented (Matson et al., 2002 Jenkins, 2003 Root et al.,... 

Thermal analysis techniques will continue to play a vital role in assisting polymer scientists in all of their endeavours fundamental characterisation work and failure diagnosis studies the development of better polymers, polymer blends and compoimds the addressing of pressing current environmental concerns, such as the recycling of used tyres and the polymer components of electrical devices and the substitution of renewable raw materials (e.g. fibres such as hemp and natural rubber) for synthetic materials derived from petroleum products. 

The buyers of motor vehicles have been substantially positive concerning the need to have cleaner running vehicles. Although the required emission control devices and other mandated safety equipment have increased the cost of new motor vehicles, sales have not been significantly effected. The current environmental awareness and concern are evidence of the general population s new found knowledge and acceptance of both mobile and stationary source emission controls. 

Biomass sequestration, which has been embraced by coal companies as the least expensive way to start carbon management, relies on capture from air. Cofiring with biomass followed by sequestration also would lead to a net C02 reduction in the atmosphere (Keith, 2001). On a per ton basis, this option is quite cost effective, but the amount of land area that would be required is extremely large to be practical. Consequently, it is worthwhile to consider other options. Currently, studies that consider capture of C02 directly from the air by chemical means are under way. These processes will require good chemical sorbents that do not pose any environmental concerns in their own right and can be regenerated cost effectively. 

The factors are discussed which lead to the formation of environmental regulations in the United States, following the growing realisation over the last 150 years of the environmental impact of the new chemicals which were being developed. Initiatives for new regulations often come from the public, and their concerns at the time, particularly in relation to pollution prevention, air quality, and the protection of children s health. Current environmental regulations are discussed along with their impact on industrial research and development. Future trends are forecast to be related to air quality, children s health, and pollution prevention. 11 refs. 

Abstract There is a growing demand for hydrolyzable surfactants, i.e., sirnfactants that break down in a controlled way by changing the pH. Environmental concern is the main driving force behind current interest in these sirnfactants, but they are also of interest in applications where sirnfactants are needed in one stage but later undesirable at another stage of a process. This chapter summarizes the field of hydrolyzable sirnfactants with an emphasis on their more recent development. Surfactants that break down either on the acid or on the alkaline side are described. It is shown that the susceptibility to hydrolysis for many surfactants depends on whether or not the surfactant is in the form of micelles or as free unimers in solution. It is shown that whereas nonionic ester sirnfactants are more stable above the CMC (micellar retardation), cationic ester surfactants break down more readily when aggregated than when present as unimers (micellar catalysis). 

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