REACH

The European Commission proposed a new EU regulatory framework for the Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals (REACH) on 29 October 2003 [15]. The aim is to improve the protection of human health and the environment through the bettr and earlier identification of the properties of chemical substances. At the same time, innovative capability and competitiveness of the EU chemicals industry should be enhanced. The benefits of the REACH system will come gradually, as more and more substances are phased into REACH. 

The REACH proposal should give greater responsibility to industry to manage the risks from chemicals and to provide safety information on the substances. Manufacturers and importers will be required to gather information on the properties of their substances, which will help them manage them safely, and to register the information in a central database. A Chemicals Agency will act as the central point in the REACH system it will run the databases necessary to operate the system, co-ordinate the in-depth evaluation of suspicious chemicals and run a public database in which consumers and professionals can find hazard information. 

Following 2 years of negotiation, the EU Council reached a Common Position on June 27, 2006 [16]. The new regulation replaces Directive 76/769/EEC, Commission Directive 91/155/EEC, Commission Directive 2000/21/EC, Regulation (EEC) No 793/93, and Commission Regulation (EC) No 1488/94. These Directives and Regulations should therefore be repealed. 

The EU Commission welcomed and fully supported the Common Position and supported achieving final agreement on REACH at a second reading. At the session on 13 December 2006 the European Parliament has agreed on the compromise version of REACH in its second reading. The European Concil will have to approve this version. Enforcement is envisaged for June 2007. 

the European Community Regulation on chemicals and their safe use (EC 1907/2006), was the consequence of those deliberations. 

European Union Legislation Requires Companies to Provide Detailed Information on Chemicals 

In recent years companies have made considerable efforts to comply with the new European Union regulation commonly referred to as REACH (for Registration, Evaluation and Authorization of CHemicals). REACH was adopted by the European Parliament 

REACH is considered by some as one of the most complex and far-reaching Chemical regulations ever adopted by the European legislature and it has impact a wide swath of industry. According to REACH legislation, fuels, oils, waxes, lubes, and many gases are all chemicals subject to this legislation. 

A reading to determine the scope of REACH indicates it extends to stand alone substances, substances in mixtures (solution composed of two or more substances), and to some extent, substances contained in articles (the term articles refers to an object with a shape, surface or design that determines its function). 

There are however certain exclusions from scope of the regulation which include Non-isolated intermediates, radioactive substances, substances under customs supervision and waste material. 

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The entering fluid flows downward in a spiral adjacent to the wall. When the fluid reaches the bottom of the cone, it spirals upward in a smaller spiral at the center of the cone and cylinder. The downward... 

Consider the sequence of simple columns shown in Fig. 5.12. In the direct sequence shown in Fig. 5.12, the composition of component B in the first column increases below the feed as the more volatile component A decreases. However, moving further down the column, the composition of component B decreases again as the composition of the less volatile component C increases. Thus the composition of component B reaches a peak only to be remixed. ... 

Relief systems are expensive and introduce considerable environmental problems. Sometimes it is possibly to dispense with relief valves and all that comes after them by using stronger vessels, strong enough to withstand the highest pressures that can be reached. For example, if the vessel can withstand the pump delivery pressure, then a relief valve for overpressurization by the pump may not be needed. However, there may still be a need for a small relief device to guard against overpressurization in the event of a fire. It may be possible to avoid the need for a relief valve on a distillation column... 

The absorbed light may act as calalv. i for a spontaneous reaction, but in other cases it may supply energy to make possible a reaction which, without light, would be thermodynamically impossible. In some cases, such a reaction reverses itselfby thermal reaction (e.g. if left in the dark) and, hence, during irradiation a phoiostationary state is reached. 

All elements of atomic number greater than 83 exhibit radioactive decay K, Rb, Ir and a few other light elements emit p particles. The heavy elements decay through various isotopes until a stable nucleus is reached. Known half-lives range from seconds to 10 years. 

For the transition metals it is often impossible to reach a noble gas structure except in covalent compounds (see effective atomic number rule) and it is found that relative stability is given by having the sub-shells (d or f) filled, half-filled or empty. 

The sample is burned in oxygen at 1000°C. Nitrogen oxide, NO, is formed and transformed into NO2 by ozone, the NO2 thus formed being in an excited state NO. The return to the normal state of the molecule is accompanied by the emission of photons which are detected by photometry. This type of apparatus is very common today and is capable of reaching detectable limits of about 0.5 ppm. 

The average error is about 2% for tbe critical temperatures and pressures. The error increases with molecular weight and can reach 5%. 

Table 4.5 shows the results for an example. These results differ significantly from those obtained by the method of Riazi for the initial and 10% distilled points. The reported average error for this method is about 3°C, except for the initial point where it reaches 12°C. 

The average error of this simplified method is about 3°C and can reach 5°C. Table 4.22 shows an application of this method calculating the temperature of hydrate formation of a refinery gas at 14 bar. Table 4.23 gives an example applied to natural gas at 80 bar. Note that the presence of H2S increases the hydrate formation temperature. 

The base products, TEL and TML, are liquids having boiling points of 205° and 110° respectively. The contents of additives used are usually expressed in grams of lead per liter of fuel in the past they have reached 0.85 g Pb/1. These concentrations are still found in some of the countries of Africa. Elsewhere, when part or all of the motor fuel pool contains lead, the concentrations are much smaller. Thus in Western Europe they no longer exceed 0.15 g Pb/1. 

When the temperature decreases, water becomes less soluble (see Figure 5.15) and deposits as fine droplets that begin to freeze as the temperature reaches 0°C. To prevent this occurrence, it is possible to use anti-freeze additives that absorb the water and lower the freezing point. These products, used at maximum levels of 1500 ppm, are ethers-alcohols for example, 2-methoxy... 

The stocks used for jet fuel production come almost essentially from direct distillation of crude oil. They correspond to the fraction distilled between 145 and 240°C, more or less expanded or contracted according to the circumstances. The yield of such a cut depends largely on the nature of the crude but is always larger than the demand for jet fuel which reaches about 6% of the petroleum market in Europe. For the refiner, the tightest specifications are ... 

This product, given the abbreviation FOD (fuel-oil domestique) in France, still held a considerable market share there of 17 Mt in 1993. However, since 1973 when its consumption reached 37 Mt, FOD has seen its demand shrink gradually owing to development of nuclear energy and electric heating. FOD also faces strong competition with natural gas. Nevertheless, its presence in the French, European and worldwide petroleum balance will still be strong beyond tbe year 2000. 

The specifications require a maximum Conradson Carbon of 0.35%. This limit is very easily met in fact the values obtained on commercial products rarely exceed 0.1%. On the other hand, for heavy fuels, the Conradson Carbon can often reach 5 to 10%, as we will show later. 

In 1993, French consumption of these products was around 6 Mt and 2.5 Mt respectively for use in burners and in diesel engines. The latter figure appears in the statistics under the heading, marine bunker fuel . Its consumption been relatively stable for several years, whereas heavy industrial fuel use has diminished considerably owing to the development of nuclear energy. However, it seems that heavy fuel consumption has reached a bottom limit in areas where it is difficult to replace, e.g., cement plants. 

The high C/H ratio for heavy fuels and their high levels of contaminants such as sulfur, water, and sediment, tend to reduce their NHV which can reach as low as 40,000 kJ/kg by comparison to the 42,500 kJ/kg for a conventional home-heating oil. This characteristic is not found in the specifications, but it is a main factor in price negotiations for fuels in terms of cost per ton. Therefore it is subject to frequent verification. 

The Conradson Carbon of a heavy fuel can often reach 5 to 10%, sometimes even 20%. It is responsible for the combustion quality, mainly in rotating tip atomizing burners. 

The European regulations have set SO2 emission limits for industrial combustion systems. They range from 1700 mg/Nm for power generation systems of less than 300 MW and to 400 mg/Nm for those exceeding 500 MW between 300 and 500 MW, the requirements are a linear interpolation (Figure 5.24). To give an idea how difficult it is to meet these requirements, recall that for a fuel having 4% sulfur, the SO2 emissions in a conventional boiler are about 6900 mg/Nm this means that a desulfurization level of 75% will be necessary to attain the SO2 content of 1700 mg/Nm and a level of 94% to reach 400 mg/Nm. ... 

The accreditation of a standard is an official act (signed by the Ministry of Industry in France). To prepare standards, governments have mandated private organizations which are responsible for continuously following the rules to reach a mciximum consensus. There is only one such organization per country. They are, moreover, grouped at the European and international levels. 

All these organizations have developed numerous working procedures, with very little difference between each other. These procedures seem at first heavy and cumbersome, but following them allows a consensus to be reached. Thus, for example, free access for all to the standardization commissions work is guaranteed, and the existence of lobbies is avoided. 

The vapor pressure of a crude oil at the wellhead can reach 20 bar. If it were necessary to store and transport it under these conditions, heavy walled equipment would be required. For that, the pressure is reduced (< 1 bar) by separating the high vapor pressure components using a series of pressure reductions (from one to four flash stages) in equipment called separators , which are in fact simple vessels that allow the separation of the two liquid and vapor phases formed downstream of the pressure reduction point. The different components distribute themselves in the two phases in accordance with equilibrium relationships. 

Oxidation stability (gasoline) (induction period) NFM 07-012 ISO/DlS 7536 ASTM D 525 Time necessary for a sample bomb under oxygen pressure to reach the critical induction point... 

Several conditions need to be satisfied for the existence of a hydrocarbon accumulation, as indicated in Figure 2.1. The first of these is an area in which a suitable sequence of rocks has accumulated over geologic time, the sedimentary basin. Within that sequence there needs to be a high content of organic matter, the source rock. Through elevated temperatures and pressures these rocks must have reached maturation, the condition at which hydrocarbons are expelled from the source rock. 

Originally, mud was made from clay mixed with water, a simple system. Today the preparation and treatment of drilling fluid has reached a sophistication which requires specialist knowledge. The reason for this becomes clear if we consider the properties expected. 

Between the top hole and the reservoir section in most cases an intermediate section will need to be drilled. This section consists of more consolidated rocks than the top hole. The deviation angle is often increased in this interval to reach the subsurface target and eventually a casing is set prior to entering the reservoir sequence. 

If a shallow kick off in soft formation is required (e.g. to steer the borehole away underneath platforms) a technique using jet bit deflection or badgering is employed (Fig. 3.16). A rock bit is fitted with two small and one large jet. With the bit on bottom and oriented in the desired direction the string is kept stationary and mud is pumped through the nozzles. This causes asymmetric erosion of the borehole beneath the larger jet. Once sufficient hole has been jetted, the drill bit will be rotated again and the new course followed. This process will be repeated until the planned deviation is reached. 

An extended reach well is loosely defined as having a horizontal displacement of at least twice the vertical depth. With current technology a ratio of over 4 (horizontal displacement / vertical depth) can be achieved. 

Figure 3.20 Extended reach drilling (BP, Wytch Farm)...

If a rock is sufficiently stressed, the yield point will eventually be reached. If a brittle failure is initiated a plane of failure will develop which we describe as a fault. Figure 5.6 shows the terminology used to describe normal, reverse and wrench faults. 

Once the bubble point is reached (at point B), the first bubble of ethane vapour is released. From point B to C liquid and gas co-exist in the cell, and the pressure is maintained constant as more of the liquid changes to the gaseous state. The system exhibits infinite compressibility until the last drop of liquid is left In the cell (point C), which is the dew point. Below the dew point pressure only gas remains in the cell, and as pressure is reduced below the dew point, the volume increase is determined by the compressibility of the gas. The gas compressibility is much greater than the liquid compressibility, and hence the change of volume for a given reduction in pressure (the... 

The initial temperature of a gas condensate lies between the critical temperature and the cricondotherm. The fluid therefore exists at initial conditions in the reservoir as a gas, but on pressure depletion the dew point line is reached, at which point liquids condense in the reservoir. As can be seen from Figure 5.22, the volume percentage of liquids is low, typically insufficient for the saturation of the liquid in the pore space to reach the critical saturation beyond which the liquid phase becomes mobile. These... 

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