In recent years, there has been increased concern over fugitive emissions of air pollutants from refinery facilities and the potential impacts of these emissions to public health. In response to these concerns, the US EPA promulgated a new rule for the Petroleum Refinery Sector Risk and Technology Review and New Source Performance Standards. As part of the rule, refinery operators are required to implement benzene emissions monitoring along their facility fenceline by deploying diffusive passive samplers in accordance with EPA Test Method 325. The rule provides operators with the option of performing supplemental, time-resolved monitoring to characterize the presence of near-field benzene sources that could be affecting benzene concentration at their fenceline. The time-resolved monitoring, coupled with real-time meteorological data, can also be utilized to detect and locate sources of benzene leaks at the site, allowing operators to repair leaks driving fenceline benzene concentrations.

The current paper provides details on continuous, time-resolved benzene monitoring techniques that AECOM utilizes as part of monitoring programs at client sites. The paper also presents details of how the data generated from these monitors can be used to document near-field sources and identify the locations of benzene leaks within the facility.

Primary Author / Conference Presenter:
Ignacio Gallardo, PhD
AECOM
Austin, Texas, USA
www.aecom.com

Co-Author:
Mark T. Modrak, AECOM, Austin, TX, USA