Emission factor estimation for oil and gas facilities

Fugitive emission rate quantification in an oil and gas facility is an important step of risk management. There are several studies conducted by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) and American Petroleum Institute (API) proposing methods of estimating emission rates and factors. Four major approaches of estimating these emissions, in the order of their accuracy, are: average emission factor approach, screening ranges emission factor approach, USEPA correlation equation approach, and unit-specific correlation equation approach. The focus of this study is to optimize the USEPA correlation equations to estimate the emission rate of different units in an oil and gas facility. In the developed methodology, the data available from USEPA (1995) is used to develop new sets of equations. A comparison between USEPA correlation equations and the proposed equations is performed to define the optimum sets of equations. It is observed that for pumps, flanges, open-ended lines, and others, the proposed developed equations provide a better estimation of emission rate, whereas for other sources, USEPA equations supply the better estimate of emission rate.     

Biomonitoring ²¹°Po and ²¹°Pb in marine brachyuran crabs collected along the coast of Kudankulam, Gulf of Mannar (GOM), India

Activities of 21?Po and 21?Pb in whole-body and in various tissues of brachyuran crabs collected along the Kudankulam coast were studied. A non-uniform distribution of these radionuclides was observed between the various tissues. Of all the tissues, 21?Po and 21?Pb were found to accumulate more in the hepatopancreas and intestine. Among the crabs studied, Charybdis lucifera registered higher 21?Po and 21?Pb activity. Muscle tissue in all the species registered lower activity. The 21?Po/21?Pb activity ratio was found to be greater than unity. The biological concentration factor for organs varied between ~ 10? and 10? for 21?Po and ~102 and 10? for 21?Pb. A significant variation in the accumulation of 21?Po and 21?Pb was noted between species and between seasons (p < 0.05). The mean whole-body internal dose ranged from 1.42 to 6.86 μGy h?1 for 21?Po and from 3.0 × 10?3 to 8.0 × 10?3 μGy h?1 for 21?Pb. The external dose for 21?Po and 21?Pb was 2.41 × 10?? to 5.76 × 10?? μGy h?1 and 4.14 × 10?? to 8.26 × 10?? μGy h?1, respectively. The activity levels recorded are in agreement with values recorded in related organisms in other parts of the world. The total committed effective dose due to the intake of both radionuclides ranged from 80.3 to 871.7 μSv y?1. The median dose calculated due to 21?Po and 21?Pb in certain crabs in Kudankulam is less and would not pose any significant radiological impact on health or a cancer risk to the public, and the seafood is considered safe for human consumption.     

The dynamic links among energy consumption,tourism growth,and the ecological footprint: the role of environmental quality in 38 IEA countries

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - We examine the impact of energy consumption and tourism growth on the ecological footprints and economic growth of 38 International Energy Agency...     

Exploring natural colorant behavior of husk of durum (Triticum durum Desf.) and bread (Triticum aestivum L.) wheat species for sustainable cotton fabric dyeing

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Revival of natural colorants in textile dyeing is one of the important strategies to reduce synthetic chemical-based environmental pollution. The...     

Impact of hydrogeochemical processes and its evolution in controlling groundwater chemistry along the east coast of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry,India

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The present study area falls beside the coastal zone of Tamil Nadu, and Puducherry is characterized by varied geological formations that mostly...     

A review on efficient electromagnetic interference shielding materials by recycling waste—a trio of land to lab to land concept

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The materials used in electrical and electronic applications have great importance and broader applications, but they have severe electromagnetic...     

Degradation of different pesticides in water by microplasma: the roles of individual radicals and degradation pathways

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Pesticides are emergent toxins often identified in aquatic environments. In the present study, microplasma was employed to reduce the pesticide...     

Modelling of the effect of size on flocculent dust explosions

The effect of size on the severity of explosions involving flocculent materials has been simulated by means of a model previously developed for spherical particles and here extended to the cylindrical geometry of flock. The model consists of the identification of the regime (internal and external heating, pyrolysis/devolatilization reaction, and volatiles combustion) controlling the explosion by the evaluation of dimensionless numbers (Bi, Da, Th and Pc) and then of the estimation of the deflagration index as a function of flocculent size. The model has been validated by means of explosion data of polyamide 6.6 (nylon) at varying diameter and length. The comparison between model and experimental data show a fairly good agreement.     

A rough set-based game theoretical approach for environmental decision-making: A case of offshore oil and gas operations

Environmental decision-making in offshore oil and gas (OOG) operations can be extremely complex due to conflicting objectives or criteria, availability of vague and uncertain information, and interdependency among multiple decision-makers. Most existing studies ignore conflicting preferences and strategic interactions among decision-makers. This paper presents a game theoretical approach to solve multi-criteria conflict resolution problem under constrained and uncertain environments. Uncertainties in the quantification of imprecise data are expressed using rough numbers. A multi-criteria game is developed to model a decision problem in which three groups of decision-makers (i.e., operators, regulators and service engineers) are involved. This game is solved using the generalized maximin solution concept. With the solution (i.e., optimal weights of the criteria), the rough numbers can be aggregated to an expected payoff for each alternative. Finally, the weights of upper and lower limits of a rough number are employed to transform the expected payoff into a crisp score, based on which all alternatives are ranked to identify the best one. A numerical example is outlined to demonstrate the application of the proposed method to the selection of management scenarios of drilling wastes.