Chapter I: General overview on industry

The purpose of refining is to convert natural raw materials such as crude oil and natural
gas into useful saleable products. Crude oil and natural gas are naturally occurring hydrocarbons
found in many areas of the world in varying quantities and compositions. In refineries, they are
transformed into different products as:
fuels for cars, trucks, aeroplanes, ships and other forms of transport
combustion fuels for the generation of heat and power for industry and households
raw materials for the petrochemical and chemical industries
speciality products such as lubricating oils, paraffins/waxes and bitumen
energy as a by-product in the form of heat (steam) and power (electricity).
In order to manufacture these products, these raw materials are processed in a number of
different refining facilities. The combination of these processing units to convert crude oil and
natural gas into products, including its supporting units and facilities, is called a refinery. The
market demand for the type of products, the available crude quality and certain requirements set
by authorities influence the size, configuration and complexity of a refinery. As these factors
vary from location to location no two refineries are identical.
The economic and political worldwide refining industry has undergone considerable
changes. The increased effort in oil and gas exploration and production as well as cost reductions
achieved in those activities has resulted in a worldwide maintenance of the total world reserves.
The health and viability of the refining industry is of critical strategic importance to the Union
for maintaining a successful and internationally competitive position for industry as a whole, and
for providing competitively priced products to consumers.
The mineral oil and gas refinery industry is an important and strategic industry. Mineral
oil refineries alone provide 42% of EU energy requirements and 95% of the fuels required for
transport. About 100 mineral oil refineries have been identified in EU, Switzerland and Norway
and together they process around 700 million tonnes per year. Installations are well spread
around the European geography, generally located near the coast. Estimations show that the
1

mineral oil refinery sector has 55000 direct employees and some 35000 indirect employees. 4
on-shore natural gas plants have been identified.

Chapter II: Technologies involved in production

Refinery installations are typically big and fully integrated. Refineries are industrial sites
that manage huge amounts of raw materials and products and they are also intensive consumers
of energy and water. In their storage and refining processes, refineries generate emissions to the
atmosphere, to the water and to the soil, to the extent that environmental management has
become a major factor for refineries. The type and quantity of refinery emissions to the
environment are typically well known. Oxides of carbon, nitrogen and sulphur, particulates
(mainly generated from combustion processes), and volatile organic carbons are the main air
pollutants generated by both sectors.
Water is used intensively in a refinery as process water and for cooling purposes. Its use
contaminates the water with oil products. The main water contaminants are hydrocarbons,
sulphides, ammonia and some metals. In the context of the huge amount of raw material that they
process, refineries do not generate substantial quantities of waste.
Currently, waste generated by refineries are dominated by sludges, non-specific refinery
waste (domestic, demolition, etc.), and spent chemicals (e.g. acids, amines, catalysts).
Emissions to air are the main pollutants generated by mineral oil refineries and, to a much
lesser extent, natural gas plants (i.e. number of emission points, tonnes emitted, number of BAT
developed). For every million tonnes of crude oil processed (European refineries range from 0.5
to more than 20 million tonnes), refineries emit from 20000 820000 t of carbon dioxide, 60 700 t of nitrogen oxides, 10 3000 t of particulate matter, 30 6000 t of sulphur oxides and 50
6000 t of volatile organic chemicals. They generate, per million tonnes of crude oil refined, from
0.1 5 million tonnes of waste water and from 10 2000 tonnes of solid waste.
Those big differences in emissions from European refineries can be partially explained by
the differences in integration and type of refineries (e.g. simple vs. complex). However, the main
differences are related to different environmental legislation schemes in Europe. Main air
2

emissions from natural gas plants are CO2, NOx, SOx, and VOC. Water and waste are typically
less important than for mineral oil refineries.
Given the progress that refineries have made in the abatement of sulphur emissions to air,
the focus has started to shift towards VOC (including odour), particulates (size and composition)
and NOx, as it has in the environmental debate generally. When the carbon dioxide emissions
debate gathers momentum, it will also strongly affect refineries. Refinery waste water treatment
techniques are mature techniques, and emphasis has now shifted to prevention and reduction.
Reduction of water use and/or the concentration of pollutants in the water can have effects in
reducing the final emission of pollutants.
Description of technological processes
Crude oil and natural gas are mixtures of many different hydrocarbons and small amounts
of impurities. The composition of those raw materials can vary significantly depending on its
source. Petroleum refineries are complex plants, where the combination and sequence of
processes is usually very specific to the characteristics of the raw materials (crude oil) and the
products to be produced. In a refinery, portions of the outputs from some processes are fed back
into the same process, fed to new processes, fed back to a previous process or blended with other
outputs to form finished products. All refineries are different regarding their configuration,
process integration, feedstock, feedstock flexibility, products, product mix, unit size and design
and control systems. In addition, differences in owners strategy, market situation, location and
age of the refinery, historic development, available infrastructure and environmental regulation
are amongst other reasons for the wide variety in refinery concepts, designs and modes of
operation. The environmental performance can also vary from refinery to refinery.
The production of a large number of fuels is by far the most important function of
refineries and will generally determine the overall configuration and operation. Nevertheless
some refineries can produce valuable non-fuel products such as feedstocks for the chemical and
petrochemical industries. Examples are mixed naphtha feed for a steam cracker, recovered
propylene, butylene for polymer applications and aromatics manufacture. Other speciality
products from a refinery include bitumen, lubricating oils, waxes and coke. In recent years the
electricity boards in many countries have been liberalised allowing refineries to feed surplus
electricity generated into the public grid.
3

Refining crude oil into usable petroleum products can be separated into two phases and a
number of supporting operations. The first phase is desalting of crude oil and the subsequent
distillation into its various components or "fractions". A further distillation of the lighter
components and naphtha is carried out to recover methane and ethane for use as refinery fuel,
LPG (propane and butane), gasoline blending components and petrochemical feedstocks. This
light product separation is done in every refinery.
The second phase is made up of three different types of "downstream" processes:
combining, breaking and reshaping fractions. These processes change the molecular structure of
hydrocarbon molecules either by breaking them into smaller molecules, joining them to form
larger molecules, or reshaping them into higher quality molecules. The goal of those processes is
to convert some of the distillation fractions into marketable petroleum products through any
combination of downstream processes. Those processes define the various refinery types, of
which the simplest is the Hydroskimming, which merely desulphurises and catalytically
reforms selected cuts from the distillation unit. The amounts of the various products obtained are
determined almost entirely by the crude composition. If the product mix no longer matches the
market requirements, conversion units have to be added to restore the balance.
The market demand has for many years obliged refineries to convert heavier fractions to
lighter fractions with a higher value. These refineries separate the atmospheric residue into
vacuum gasoil and vacuum residue fractions by distillation under high vacuum, and then feed
one or both of these cuts to the appropriate conversion units. Thus by inclusion of conversion
units, the product slate can be altered to suit market requirements irrespective of the crude type.
The number and the possible combinations of conversion units are large.
The simplest conversion unit is the thermal cracker by which the residue is subjected to
such high temperatures that the large hydrocarbon molecules in the residue convert into smaller
ones. Thermal crackers can handle virtually any feed, but produce relatively small quantities of
light products. An improved type of thermal cracker is the coke, in which all the residue is
converted into distillates and a coke product. In order to increase the degree of conversion and
improve product quality, a number of different catalytic cracking processes have evolved, of
which fluid catalytic cracking and hydrocracking are the most prominent. Recently, residue
gasification processes have been introduced within refineries, which enable refineries to
4

eliminate heavy residues completely and to convert them into clean syngas for captive use and
production of hydrogen, steam and electricity via combined cycle techniques.
Supporting operations are those not directly involved in the production of hydrocarbon
fuels but serving in a supporting role. They may include energy generation, waste water
treatment, sulphur recovery, additive production, waste gas treatment, blowdown systems,
handling and blending of products and storage of products.
Process flowsheet chart
Table 2.1. Processes
Process
Coking
Thermal
operations
Catalytic
cracking
Catalytic
reforming

Catalytic
hydrocracking

Used for
Severity

Catalytic
hydrorefining

Catalytic
Hydrotreating

Alkylation

Technique used
Delayed coking
Other
Fluid coking
Visbreaking
Thermal cracking
Fluid
Other
Semiregenerative
Continous regenerative
Cyclic
Other
Distillate upgrading
Other
Residual upgrading
Lube oil manufacturing
Conventional
Mild to moderate hydrocracking
Mid distillate
Heavy gas oil desulfurisation
catalytic cracker and cycle stock treatment
Residual desulfurization
Other
Naphtha desulfurizing
Straight-run distillate
Pretreatment cat reformer feeds
Lube oil "polishing"
Naphtha olefin or aromatic saturation
Other distillates
Other
Pretreating cat cracker feeds
Hydrofluoric acid
Sulphuric acid
5

Other
Polymerisation
Dimerisation
BTX
Hydrodealkylation
Cyclohexane
Cumene
C5 and C6 feed
C5 feed
C4 feed
MTBE
TAME
ETBE
Other
Steam methane reforming
Steam naphtha reforming
Partial oxidation
Pressure swing adsorption
Membrane
Cryogenic

Polymerisation
dimerisation
Aromatics

Isomerization

Etherification

Production
Hydrogen
Recovery

Chapter III: Elaboration of the environmental policy

Pollutants such as NOx, particulates, H2S, SO2, other sulphur compounds and VOC,
among others, are typically abated by end-of-pipe techniques. One of the largest systems within a
refinery is the abatement of H 2S produced across the refinery. These systems typically contain an
amine scrubbing system and a sulphur recovery unit to convert H 2S into sulphur, a byproduct
produced within refineries. Flares are also another technique used within the refinery for safety
and environmental reasons. Techniques for the abatement of odour and noise are also relevant for
refineries.
Refineries also contain waste water plants with different unit operations. Oil separators,
flotation, floculation and biological treatment are typical within refineries. Biological treatment
is required when biodegradation of some organic chemicals that may be present within the waste
water stream is necessary. Final water cleaning systems can also be present.
Refineries also generate solid wastes. Some of them are recycled within the refinery,
others are recycled by specialist companies (e.g. catalysts) and others are disposed of. Soil
contamination prevention techniques that are also relevant to the whole refinery.
Petrom environmental policy involves a commitment to continuous improvement and
pollution prevention as well as a framework for setting objectives and targets for environmental
analysis. Environmental policy is adopted at the senior management and is publicly available. It
is signed by the leadership at the highest level and it reflects management's commitment to
comply with applicable laws and pursue continuous improvement.
All production plans must be certified to ISO 14001. 80% were completed by the ending
of 2008 and the rest by the ending of 2011.
Implementation of environmental management systems including ISO 14001 accreditation for
production units;
Continuous improvements in environmental performance, using preventive methods in
environmental pollution;
The development and production of products that do not have a negative effect on the
environment by reusing and recycling;
Efficient use of natural resources, energy and land;
Employee involvement and responsibility for environmental performance;
7

 Awareness of and compliance with the supplier and contractor company Petrom environmental
policies;
Open dialogue with stakeholders affected by buisness operation Petrom.
There must be a greater responsibility to ensure that resources are used wisely, and the
waste and emissions management is efficient.

Flue gas
Methan
gas

Crude oil
VOC
Particulates

Energy
generation

Thermal
operations

Handling
and storage

Catalytic
reforming

Wastewaters, salts,
organic compounds

Synthesis

Solid wastes

Products

Chapter IV: Initial environmental analysis

8

For the identification of significant environmental aspects, there will be taken into
account several factors, such as: air emissions, NPP in water, waste management, soil pollution,
the impact on the community, the use of raw materials and natural resources, other aspects of the
local environment, life cycle analysis, matrix of environmental effects analysis, previous and
planned activities for the future, the normal operation and abnormal installations/equipment,
incidents, accidents, accidental pollution.
Also in the establishment of the method of listing may include identifying the impacts on
the health and safety of persons, and the assessment of risks to the environment. The relationship
between environmental issues and the impact on the environment is the cause-effect. For
example, for the environmental aspect/discharge of petroleum products on the ground the
effect/impact is the pollution of soil, subsoil for infiltration in petroleum products. The
identification of environmental aspects and assessment of impacts on the environment associated
with these issues is a process that goes through the following stages: the selection of the activity,
the product identification number as well as the larger environmental issues associated with
identifying a number as well as greater environmental impacts associated with each aspect and
quantification of impacts which helps to retain only those environmental issues that generate
significant impacts.
For establishing those significant impacts we will use M.E.R.I. method.
S = aT x bT
aT = A1 x A2
bT = B1 + B2 + B3
A1 importance
A2 magnitude (gravity)
B1 permanence
B2 reversibility
B3 synergy

Table 4.1. The initial environmental analysis using M.E.R.I. method

9

Environmental
Aspects

Wastewater

Natural gas
consuption

Air

Waste

Environmental
Impacts
Discharge in
rivers or ponds,
contaminating
substances,
most often
resulting from
industrial
processes.
Resources
depletion
Exposure to
carbon
monoxide,
oxides of
nitrogen
Uncontrolled
waste storage

Fuctionin
g

A1

A2

aT

B1

B2

B3

bT

Significant/
Insignificant

-3

-6

-36

-2

-8

-72

-3

-9

-81

-2

-4

-28

According to the initial environmental analysis, the most significant impact is generated
by natural gas consuption and by the exposure to carbon monoxide and oxides of nitrogen.

10

Chapter V: Development of the environmental management program

An environmental management system (EMS) can contain the following elements:
The implementation and adherence to international accepted system such as those from
the ISO 14000 series or to EMAS. Those systems ensure the continuous improvements,
complaints handling training, performance reporting, process control and improvement planning
etc.
Proof can be enhance by e.g. internal and/or external auditing, certification.
EMS does not stand in isolation from the other systems (safety, maintenance, finance
etc.) but is to be integrated with the other systems where relevant and beneficial. More
specifically the management systems for Energy and Environment can be combined, which is in
line with the fact that a reduction in energy consumption goes hand in hand with improvement of
environmental performance.
The preparation and publication of an annual environmental performance report, to be
externally verified. Such a report will also enable the dissemination of improvements to others,
and will be a vehicle for information exchange (to neighbouring environments, to authorities
etc).
The delivery to stakeholders on an annual basis of an environmental performance
improvement plan. Continuous improvement is assured by such a plan.
It is common practice in the quest for continuous improvement to compare own
performance with that of others in the field, and to identify the current best practices. Taking
these best practices from others to heart and applying them will lead to environmental
performance improvements. Systems are available for comparing own performance with others
for energy, for efficiency, for maintenance, in which performances of refineries with different
capacities and complexity are normalized. (e.g quivalent Distilling Capacity). This technique of
performance measurement, comparisons with others and identification of best practices and the
adoption in ones own workplace is also called benchmarking. This technique has scope for
application in a number of areas of environmental performance improvements as well.
Perform an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for major new activities.
11

 Mass balance data on sulphur input and output via emissions and products (including
lowgrade and off-spec products and further use and fate), to be reported on an annual basis.
Those systems typically ensure the continuous improvements, complaints handling
training, performance reporting, process control and improvement planning.

12

Table 5.1. Environmental management program

Environmenta
l
aspects

Environmental
impacts

Objectives

Wastewater

Discharge in
rivers or ponds,
contaminating
substances,
most often
resulting from
industrial
processes.

Water pollution
control and
reducing water
consuption

Natural gas
consuption

Resources
depletion

Natural
resources
conservation

Air

Exposure to
carbon
monoxide,
oxides of
nitrogen

Reducing direct
emissions of
greenhouse
gases

Waste

Uncontrolled
waste storage

Prevention of
accidents

Targets

Actions

Responsible

Resources

Indicators

15% COD
reduction

-using
wastewater
treatment;
-the use of
closed circuit
cooling systems

Environment
manager

-financial
resources
-time

COD
concentration

5% natural gas
-the inclusion of
consuption
energy-selective
reduction
Reducing
direct
-promotion of
emissions of
natural gas
greenhouse
gases by 10%
-waste
management in
10% reduction
compliance
of risk
with of the
legislation and
recovery

13

Environment
manager

Environment
manager

Environment
manager

-financial
resources
-time
-financial
resources
-human
resources
-time
-financial
resources
-human
resources
-time

Gas consuption

Emissions of
GHG

Amount of
waste

14

Conclusions
Environmental protection is an evolving topic. Any organization can show interest in
environmental protection by implementing an environmental management system.
Environmental policy expresses the company's commitment to reduce its environmental
impact. It aims to set objectives and targets which may provide the first steps in designing an
EMS.
While the main objective of implementing an EMS is to reduce pollution of the
organization, there are multiple other benefits. Among the most important are:
- increase profits by improving the use of resources;
- improving waste management in the organization;
- reducing the costs of any environmental incidents, etc..
The organization should consider the environmental management system periodically to
ensure that it is appropriate, adequate and effective. The analysis should highlight any need for
change in environmental policy, objectives and other elements of the environmental management
system.
Petrom is the largest oil and gas producer in Romania, the main activities are the
production, exploitation and refining of crude oil. Therefore it has a great need of implementing
an EMS. By implementing such a system, identification and control of environmental aspects
and environmental impacts of the organization can be simplified.

15