ESA action on environmental legislation - the development of an acronym culture By Brian Ellis, European Sealing Association, Lancaster, UK

The quantity of environmental legislation that is being introduced and adopted within the (reflecting the state of European Directives at that

European Union continues to grow, seemingly unbounded. This article provides a general time). Hence, an integrated approach was

outline of those pieces of legislation that are relevant to the sealing industry, explains associated developed to consider a potential pollutant across

acronyms and highlights how the European Sealing Association is contributing. all media which might be affected.

Before the turn of the millennium, almost 700

pieces of environmental legislation had been

adopted within the European Union and

development continues on an upward spiral, as

can be seen from the trend that is displayed in

Figure 1.

Accelerating The accelerating propagation of environmental

legtslation is matched with increasing

complexity and a proliferation of acronyms.

One example is the IPPC Directive, which

originated from an Organisation for Economic

Co-operation and Development (OECD) paper.

This Directive is based on the use of BAT and

has stimulated the publication of a number of

BREF notes, including one from the LVOC

industry, which involves ways to reduce

Other terms, such as POCP, ODP and GWP

emissions of VOCs.

have also been adopted. This article aims to

provide a general outline of most of these items,

and explain how the European Sealing

Association (ESA) is contributing.

Background to the legislation

The OECD accepted a recommendation during

1991 concerning an integrated approach to

pollution prevention and control.

This approach recognized that control of a

substance in one medium in isolation might result

in transfer of the substance to another medium

67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 65 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 9495 96 97 98

Six categories of industry This concept was first discussed in the European

Commissions Fourth Environmental Action

Programme and Directive 96/61 on Integrated

Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC)

entered into force on 30 October 1996.

Formal compliance for new plants was

required by 30 October 1999, while formal

compliance for existing plants is required by 30

October 2007.

The Directive applies to six categories of

industry: energy; production and processing of

metals; minerals; chemicals; waste management;

and ‘other’.

The ‘other’ group includes facilities operating

in the areas of pulp and paper production, textile

treatment, tanning, food production, and the

intensive rearing of poultry and pigs. Within

each category, the scope of the Directive is

defined further either by relation to the nature of

the process, or the size of the operation.

Integrated approach More specifically, the Directive provides for a

permitting system for industrial installations,

requiring both operators and regulators to take

an integrated, overall look at the polluting and

consuming potential of the installation.

The overall aim of such an integrated approach

is to improve the management and control of

industrial processes so as to ensure a high level of

w Sealing Technology June 2002

protection for the environment as a whole.

Central to this approach is the general principle

that operators should take all appropriate

preventative measures against pollution, in

particular through the application of ‘best

available techniques’ (BAT) enabling them to

improve their environmental performance. At the

time, there was considerable debate among

Member States about the understanding and

interpretation of BAT

Definition of BAT The term ‘best available techniques’ is defined in

the Directive as “the most effective and

advanced stage in the development of activities

and their methods of operation which indicate

the practical suitability of particular techniques

for providing in principle the basis for emission

limit values designed to prevent and, where that

is not practicable, generally to reduce emissions

and the impact on the environment as a whole”.

This definition is clarified further as follows:

‘techniques’ includes both the technology

used and the way in which the installation is

designed, built, maintained, operated and

decommissioned;

‘available’ techniques are those developed on a

scale which allows implementation in the

relevant industrial sector, under economically

and technically viable conditions, taking into

consideration the costs and advantages,

whether or not the techniques are used or

produced inside the Member State in

question, as long as they are reasonably

accessible to the operator; and

‘best’ means most effective in achieving a high

general level of protection of the environment

as a whole.

In addition, the Directive contains a list of

“considerations to be taken into account generally

or in specific cases when determining best

available techniques... bearing in mind the likely

costs and benefits of a measure and the principles

of precaution and prevention”. Inevitably, BAT

will continue to develop over time.

Competent authorities The Directive requires Member States to

establish their own ‘competent authorities’,

which are responsible for issuing permits and

emission limits. Also, an obligation is placed on

Member States to ensure that their competent

authorities remain informed of BAT

developments.

The conditions imposed in the permits are to

be based on BAT but may not specify the actual

equipment to be used. However, determination

of BAT must take into account the technical

characteristics of the installation, its

geographical location and local environmental

conditions.

These factors will vary throughout Europe, as

will the consideration of economic factors in the

determination of BAT, so it is anticipated that

significant differences will emerge in the

emission limits and BAT applied by the

Member States. The Directive recognizes this

fact, and sets out a procedure for the exchange of

information on national assessments of BAT

and emission limits.

Exchange of information The exchange of information on national

assessments of BAT and emission limits provides

the basis for the publication of reference

information by the Commission. This

information is to be taken into account in any

determination of BAT. Thus a competent

authority should consider the material in setting

permit conditions in any particular case.

Reference notes In order to facilitate this exchange of

information on BAT, the European Commission

initiated the preparation of a series of so-called

BAT Reference (BREF) notes, to set out the

available information for the different sectors

covered by the IPPC regime.

In view of this, the European IPPC Bureau

was established at the Joint Research Centre in

Seville, to assist information exchange on BAT

and publish the BREF notes, providing updates

every three years, where appropriate.

These BREF notes are being developed for

the various sectors covered within the IPPC

Directive, and are available for download from

the Internet (at http:/leippcb.jrc.es/).

Although the original intention was to

publish BREF notes for all IPPC sectors by the

end of 2002, it is now apparent that this will

not be achieved in time. In fact, the

development of the various BREF notes has

taken a considerable time and effort, far in

excess of that anticipated. Frustratingly for the

IPPC Bureau, some BREF notes have still to

make progress.

‘Horizontal’ BREF notes The BREF notes were considered initially to be

specific for each industrial sector covered by the

IPPC regime (so-called ‘vertical’ BREF notes).

However, it has become apparent that some

BAT concepts are applicable across all industrial

sectors, and so work has also started on the first

‘horizontal’ BREF note, covering emission

monitoring (Figure 2).

Working groups When the process was first started, the industrial

sectors covered by the IPPC regime were

charged with collating their own information

base for developing their own BREF note.

Various technical working groups have been

established across the European Union from

within each industry

As an example, the large volume organic

chemical industry (LVOC) has drafted a BREF

note which provides considerable information

about the typical processes used within the

industry, the likely pollutants, and the best

available techniques for minimizing such

emissions.

This draft indicates that emissions of volatile

organic compounds (VOCs) may arise from

process vents, the storage and transfer of fluids

and fugitive emissions. Losses are greatest where

the feedstock or process stream is gaseous. In

these cases, VOC losses can exceed 2% of total

production.

VOCs and fugitive emissions VOC emissions are of significant environ-

mental concern because some have the

potential for Photochemical Ozone Creation

Potential (POCP), Ozone Depletion Potential

(ODP), Global Warming Potential (GWP),

toxicity, carcinogenicity and local nuisance

from odour.

These properties mean that VOCs are a major

contributor to the formation of ‘summer smog’.

The prevention of VOC emissions is therefore

Sealing Technology June 2002 0

one of the most important issues facing the

operation of many industrial processes.

VOC - a generic term VOC is the generic term applied to those

organic carbon compounds which evaporate at

ambient temperature, and is defined usually as “a

substance having a vapour pressure of greater

than 0.3 kPa at 20°C”.

The term covers a diverse group of substances

and includes all organic compounds released to

air in the gas phase, whether hydrocarbons or

substituted hydrocarbons.

VOC sources Historically, process vents usuaIly represent the

largest source of VOC emissions from LVOC

processes. However, point sources have been

increasingly controlled over recent years, and a

significant portion of VOC emissions from

many plants nowadays is the result of fugitive

emissions from, for example, pumps, valves,

flanges and tanks. For instance, in some Dutch

processes, fugitive emissions account for in

excess of 80% of all VOC emissions.

‘Fugitive emission’ To provide a common understanding of the

term ‘fugitive emission’, the ESA has

developed the following definition: “a fugitive

emission is any chemical, or mixture of

chemicals, in any physical form, which

represents an unanticipated or spurious leak

from anywhere on an industrial site”. This

same definition has now been adopted by

other industrial groups and standards

authorities.

The value of ‘fugitive emissions’ will depend

upon the:

vapour pressure of the process fluids being

handled:

processes involved;

number of pieces of equipment;

type of equipment;

age of equipment;

method of determination (estimation or

monitoring) and, if the latter, the procedure

and equipment used;

inspection and maintenance regime; and

rate of production.

Although loss rates per piece of equipment Addressing inadequacies

are usually small, there are so many pieces The ESA, as the voice of the sealing industry

on a typical LVOC plant that the total loss of in Europe, is concerned that these BREF notes

VOCs through fugitive emissions may be very will be used by EU Member States as their

significant. guide to BAT, despite these inadequacies.

0 8 Sealing Technology June 2002

It has been estimated that, on an average

plant, for every pump there will be 1 safety valve,

1.5 open-ended lines, 32 valves and 135 flanges.

Leaking losses are often hard to determine since

there are many potential sources and they are

dependent on how well the installation is

maintained.

Some important causes of leaking losses are:

ill-fitting internal or external sealing elements;

installation or construction faults;

wear and tear;

equipment failure;

pollution/degradation of the sealing element;

ageing of the sealing element;

process condition excursions outside the

normal envelope of performance; and

poor inspection/maintenance.

Leaking losses are generally higher from

dynamic equipment (compared with static

equipment) and from older equipment.

Sealing industry contribution Understandably, each industry sector covered by

the IPPC regime has focused on its own

expertise for developing its own BREF note.

Much of this work has been carried out virtually

in isolation, which has led to a number of

inadequacies.

Misleading For example, a number of sealing options men-

tioned in the various BREF notes being developed

by the individual industrial sectors are at least

misleading, and in some cases completely incorrect.

Importantly, this may have absolutely the

opposite effect to that which the legislation

was introduced to establish, by creating

conditions which may lead to more pollution

incidents.

In particular, some of the BREF notes have

focused on traditional sealing technologies

which, although they may have been used

historically within the industry, may be

incapable of long-term performance against

the tighter requirements of the IPPC regime.

Importantly, a number of new, high integrity

sealing technologies have not been considered

in detail at all.

In addition, the ESA has recognized that

most sealing technologies are common to many

of the industrial sectors covered by the IPPC

regime.

Consequently, the ESA is in contact with the

European Commission and the European IPPC

Bureau with the aim of addressing the

inadequacies of the existing BREF notes.

In parallel, the ESA is developing a new

‘horizontal’ BREF note for sealing technologies,

covering the common seahng options applicable

to the industrial sectors under the IPPC regime.

Although still in its infancy, this sealing

technology BREF note is likely to consider BAT

sealing options for:

l flanges;

l low-speed rotating shafts;

l high speed rotating shafts;

9 reciprocating shafts; and

9 valves.

Conclusions The development of more complex

environmental legislation within the European

Union has encouraged the increasing use of

acronyms.

The IPPC Directive already has significant

implications on new facilities within the

process industries across the EU, and will also

have a major impact on existing facilities by

2007.

Each Member State must appoint a

Competent Authority, which will be required

to authorize installations covered by the IPPC

Directive. These authorizations will be in the

form of a permit, based upon BAT.

Information on BAT will be disseminated

throughout the EU by a series of BAT Reference

(BREF) notes.

The competent authorities will use BREF

notes as the guideline for permit setting, and

these BREF notes will require updating as and

when new technology becomes available.

Inevitably, the conditions set down in these

permits will vary across the EU and will

tighten over time. As they stand at present,

some of the BAT sealing options within some

of these BREF notes are misleading or actually

wrong.

The ESA is aiming to redress these

inadequacies and develop a Sealing Technology

‘horizontal’ BREF note.

For more information, contact: Brian 5. Ellis, European

Sealing Association, Bowerham House, The Grove,

Lancaster LA1 3AL, UK. Tel: +44 1524 844 222, Fax:

+44 1524 844 222, E-mail: bse@europeansealing.com.