1. 12th LDAR Symposium May 15-16, 2011 New Orleans, LA
Utilizing LDAR Data to Lower (Actual and Reported) Emissions at Your Facility
Greg Wilson
LDAR Coordinator
LyondellBasell Houston Refinery
Shane Kling
Chemical Engineer
Environmental intellect

2. LyondellBasell-Houston Refinery
Located in Houston, Texas
372,000+ components
in LeakDAS database
About 350,000 annual
LDAR monitoring events

3. Where to Focus on Reducing Emissions?
A substantial percentage of annual reported emissions are from two sources
Unmonitored (not required) components
Misidentified components
Identification of these sources can allow a targeted approach to sizable reductions

4. What’s What?
Unmonitored components are ones for which no regulatory requirement exists
Misidentified components are those in your facility that are being calculated using an emissions factor for another class of component. For example, in accurately referring to a component class of “Other” rather than “Valve.”

5. Unmonitored Components
Light liquid (LL) and gas/vapor (GV) connectors that have no regulatory require-ment can contribute a great deal to calculated emissions and are the easiest targets
Which ones?
Built-in reports within the software (e.g., LeakDAS)
Homegrown tools to examine the data in order to make informed decisions

6. Unmonitored Components, cont.
LDAR software can assist in spotting trends or areas that you can address; i.e. “Top 50 Emitters” Report
Homegrown systems can be customized to your needs. We use a program that reports the Top 1000 emitters every day

7. Unmonitored Components, cont.
Using this data, analysis of specific areas or units for reduction opportunity can maximize effectiveness.
Voluntary monitoring of a subset of non-regulatory components can significantly reduce reported emissions in a large or small facility.

8. Unmonitored Components, cont.
Using refinery factors, a connector that is unmonitored and has no valid monitoring has an emissions rate equal to one that was monitored and left unrepaired at 1,026 ppm
Stated another way, monitoring 10,000 connectors and achieving a net of 50 ppm will reduce VOC emissions by about 22 TPY for a refinery.

9. Unmonitored Components, cont.
Using SOCMI factors for the same 10,000 components and the same 50 ppm net reading as an average, would result in a reduction of about 167 TPY for the facility.
A 1 wt% average
benzene concentration
for these components
would result in greater than
1.6 TPY reduction in reported BZ emissions.

10. Can You Keep It That Way?
After a period of time, a single monitoring result is no longer valid. To maintain a reduction, these previously unmonitored components must become part of your schedule. Budget for them!
Make a habit of looking for “bad actors” within your program and fix them!
Create a “Voluntary Rule” and apply it to the ones you’ve selected

11. Other Ways to Reduce Emissions from Unmonitored Components?
Consider routing non-regulatory connectors with monthly/quarterly valve monitoring.
Incorporate non-regulatory monitoring as fill-in work when possible.
Got fin-fan plugs?
Non-regulatory connectors are DTM? SKIP THEM!!!
Remove the voluntary rule across the board before the end of the year. You’re finished!

12. Misidentified Components
Incorrect class description, stream speciation and other issues with the information in the data are prime culprits
Correct identification and field verification are key to having an accurate reporting foundation.
A key is to know where and what the components are in the field and on the P&ID’s

13. How Can Smart P&IDs Help Eliminate Misidentified Components?
Integrate refinery stream speciation into individual LDAR components on smart P&ID
Export P&ID data into LeakDAS (Stream, Chemical State, Component ID, P&ID No., etc.)
Use marked-up P&IDs with tag numbers labeled to expedite LDAR inventory process
Maintain P&ID with LDAR tags to account for regulated equipment
Long-term: update LeakDAS database automatically when smart P&ID is updated during MOC process

14. What is a “Smart P&ID?” (nothing more than a P&ID with underlying data)

15. Eliminating Misidentified Components with Smart P&IDs

16. Apply Stream Speciation to LDAR Equipment in sP&ID
Stream speciation data is exported from Aspen HYSYS into MS Excel format
Speciation data was imported
into sP&ID using Ei’s software
Stream assignments were
integrated into smart P&IDs
for pipes, valves, etc.
Ei’s software generated LDAR determinations for all streams and all equipment in smart P&IDs

17. Apply Stream Speciation to LDAR Equipment in smart P&IDs

18. Import Smart P&ID data into LeakDAS
Data is exported from smart P&IDs into LeakDAS through the following steps:
Data for LDAR equipment is stored in an underlying P&ID database within AutoCAD P&IDTM
Nine P&ID data fields, including ‘Stream’, ‘Chemical State’, ‘Component ID’, ‘P&ID No. have been utilized
Data is exported from sP&IDs into a .csv format file with data columns that match LeakDAS database structure
Ei’s data was imported into LeakDAS to ‘Quarantine’
Data is processed from ‘Quarantine’ into LeakDAS and then available for download into LeakDAS Mobile
Note: any future changes to LeakDAS data can be exported to update the smart P&IDs (e.g., LDAR Tag No.)

19. Export P&ID data into LeakDAS (Stream, Chemical State, Component ID, P&ID No., etc.)

20. Long-Term: Connect LeakDAS with Smart P&IDs
Future efforts are being planned to link together smart P&IDs and LeakDAS – when the P&ID is changed during MOC, updates will be sent to LeakDAS automatically
Additional environmental compliance benefits for smart P&ID implementation:
Component counts for permitting project emissions
Marked-up P&IDs with LDAR tag numbers labeled
Improved LDAR inventory performance

21. Conclusions
If you can maintain a program that allows you to finish each period without burning the “midnight oil,” you can make a difference by monitoring voluntary components.
Accurate counts, classifications and speciation of components will enhance your ability to manage your program.
LDAR programs are meant to REDUCE EMISSIONS! These processes can help achieve that goal.

22. Conclusions
Smart P&IDs can help eliminate misidentified components and ensure accurate speciation.
The ability to manage change through data-driven processes can keep your LDAR program evergreen.

23. Questions? Greg Wilson, LyondellBasell Houston Refinery
LDAR Coordinator
Shane E. Kling, Environmental intellect
Owner, Engineering and Business Development Lead