Pollution prevention separation equipment

This section describes the major industrial processes within the petroleum refining industry, ineluding the materials and equipment used, and the processes employed. The section is necessary for an understanding of the interrelationships between the industrial processes, the types of air emissions, and control and pollution prevention approaehes. Deseriptions of eommonly used production processes, assoeiated raw materials, by-produets produeed are first deseribed. Petroleum refining is the physieal, thermal, and chemical separation of erude oil into its major distillation fraetions, which are then further proeessed through a series of separation and eonversion steps into finished petroleum produets. The primary products of the industry fall into three major categories ... 

Pollution prevention will become increasingly important to the petroleum industry as federal, state and municipal regulations become more stringent and waste disposal cost rises. The industry estimates that to comply with 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments it will require investment of 35-40 billion. Actions required to decrease pollution include process equipment modification, waste segregation and separation, recycling, and better training and supervision. 

The primary need for gas-solid separation processes is for gas cleaning the removal of dispersed finely divided solids (dust) and liquid mists from gas streams. Process gas streams must often be cleaned up to prevent contamination of catalysts or products, and to avoid damage to equipment, such as compressors. Also, effluent gas streams must be cleaned to comply with air-pollution regulations and for reasons of hygiene, to remove toxic and other hazardous materials see IChemE (1992). 

---