Releases and transfers from petroleum and chemical manufacturing industries in Korea

Considerable effort and expense have been devoted to the estimation and acquisition of Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) data. To reduce the effort required and the number of reporting mistakes in the calculation of emissions, we developed an estimation program named TRIWIN after standardization of emission estimation techniques. The program was distributed to 6 petroleum and 150 chemical manufacturing companies, and emission data for 62 chemicals were collected and analyzed. From the TRIWIN-based results obtained, it was found that more than 90% of releases from petroleum and chemical manufacturing industries in Korea were emitted to atmosphere in 1999. Volatile organic compounds are major aerial contaminants and are released primarily via fugitive emission sources such as valves, pumps, or flanges. In addition, the effect of the application of point-source management was noticeable on the emission quantities. Consequently, TRIWIN not only helped reporters to implement TRI easily and accurately, but also identified emission sources, major pollutants in facilities, and provided a standard method of assessing the environmental impact of facilities.