|
by Steven Titch, Contributing Editor Posted on Friday, December 01, 2006 9:28:42 AM   | Abstract: | Chemicals manufacturers are turning to new software platforms to ensure real-time compliance with environmental regulations in the U.S. and the EU. |
In March 23, 2005, an explosion ripped through BP's 1,200-acre refinery in Texas City, TX, about 30 miles southeast of Houston, killing 15 plant workers. The explosion, which will cost BP plc approximately $1 billion in rebuilding, $21 million in fines, and untold millions in lawsuits, was caused by unenforced and undefined procedures for managing environmental compliance. As environmental issues move to the political fore worldwide, governments are not only increasing the amount of environmental health and safety (EH&S) regulations on chemicals manufacturers, they are making the cost of non-compliance prohibitive. Two trends are driving the chemicals industry toward investment in advanced systems that ensure regulatory compliance in emissions tracking and reduction. First, there are ongoing clean air and water initiatives designed to reduce pollution, including the European Union's Registration, Evaluation, and Authorization of Chemicals (REACH) requirements, which call for chemicals manufacturers to gather information on the properties of their substances and to register the information in a central database. Second, treaties such as the Kyoto Protocol have set up emissions trading systems that create an economic incentive for chemicals companies to manage their emissions. As a result, companies in chemicals manufacturing, ranging from oil and gas to commercial fluids and solvents, to consumer products that run from lawn fertilizer to laundry detergent, have begun to explore new ways to track pollutants and emissions in real time. "The emissions area is unique. There's an opportunity for a company to have a financial benefit from compliance," says Simon Jacobson, research analyst for manufacturing operations at AMR Research. That benefit can come via cap-and-trade programs, whereby companies that cut their emissions to below their allotted amount can sell the remainder of that allotment to companies that need cushion. That, Jacobson says, can create "a million-dollar business without a lot of extra cost." But, he adds, "you do need tight control of the processes to predict and analyze where the [compliance] risks are." Companies such as Pavilion Technologies Inc. and TechniData AG, Jacobson says, are moving into the compliance area with tools that track, measure, and manage plant emissions, predicting potential violations and allowing plant operators to make appropriate adjustments in advance. For the most part, these new systems are replacing homegrown systems that have been stitched together over the years by plant managers who are now reaching retirement age. Tracking and Reducing Emissions "Manufacturers are asking, 'How can we make changes to our process that will reduce emissions?'" says Donald Hart, director of solutions marketing at Pavilion. Of paramount concern is spotting a potential problem before it becomes a compliance issue. "You don't want to learn about emissions violations when it's too late to do something about it," Hart says. Current techniques, which rely on aging sensors set atop smokestacks and decentralized and incompatible hardware and software, are prone to significant time lags between measurement and subsequent reporting and analysis, and create too much of a cost burden. Hart cites the example of Valero Energy Corp., the U.S.'s largest oil refiner, which recently was fined $700,000 because its emissions reports were late and inaccurate. Pavilion's Predictive Emissions Monitoring System (PEMS) is part of release 2.0 of its Pavilion8 compliance software, which rolled out in September. The system is designed to replace the continuous emissions monitoring systems (CEMS) now in use in most chemicals plants. Page : 1 2 3 ... NEXT |