The emissions of Iran’s petrochemical industry in Iran have decreased by 44% in the past decade, advisor to the managing director of the National Petrochemical Company said.
“Petrochemical companies have reduced their pollutants in 10 years from 66% to less than 22%,” Ali Rabbani was also quoted as saying by the Oil Ministry’s news agency Shana.
The reduction in the amount of emissions indicates that petrochemical companies have been able to consider corporate social responsibility requirements by complying with environmental standards, in addition to increasing production and efficiency, he added.
The official noted that by accelerating this process, the highest level of production is expected with the least pollution in the near future.
Petrochemical plants have taken various measures to reduce their emissions. As an example, Marjan Petrochemical Company in Asalouyeh Port on the Persian Gulf coastline has recently achieved the knowhow of designing and manufacturing burners of furnaces for methanol production, which help reduce the emission of polluting gases and flaring, and reduce fuel consumption.
The use of burners has resulted in a reduction of 103 million cubic meters of fuel consumption. By reducing polluting gases and flaring in the region, it has prevented the annual release of 202,000 tons of carbon dioxide.
Another example is Tabriz Petrochemical Plant in East Azarbaijan Province, which have launched the project to eliminate the volatile organic compounds (VOC) emissions from a wastewater treatment unit.
VOC emissions are considered a serious environmental problem in petrochemical industries.
The company has also manufactured a regenerative thermal oxidizer (RTO) system to collect and dispose emissions from its ABS unit.
RTO is an energy-saving system that oxidizes and decomposes VOCs and odorous emissions discharged from industrial or manufacturing processes at 850°C or higher. It is suitable for the treatment of high concentration gases.
It achieves emission destruction through the process of high temperature thermal oxidation, using the proper mix of temperature, time, turbulence and oxygen to convert pollutants into carbon dioxide and water vapor.
VOCs are emitted as gases from certain solids or liquids, and include a variety of chemicals, some of which may have short- and long-term adverse health effects. They cause eye, nose and throat irritation, headaches and nausea, and also damage the liver, kidney and central nervous system.
What makes RTO the most widely used emission abatement technology is its ability to repurpose the thermal energy generated during operation to reduce operating costs and energy consumption of the system itself.
As part of a drive to protect the environment and curb air pollution in the fossil fuel industry, several petrochemical complexes have been equipped with online pollution control systems.
Unlike traditional lab systems that force experts to be physically present in the factory, online data processing systems enable the Department of Environment to measure and analyze the level of noxious waste, such as nitric oxide, nitrogen dioxide, carbon dioxide and sulfur at any moment from long distance.
