EMISSIONS CONTROL
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1.5°C of separation
Despite some contradiction from
a select few in the West, a large
proportion of this publication’s
readership will understand the
realities of climate change.
With the very visual demonstration
of nature’s recent dramatic cry for
equilibrium through a rise in natural
disasters and extreme weather
conditions, climate change is now harder
to deny than ever before. The potential
for substantial irreversible consequences
has prompted governments around
the world to devise ambitious plans to
address climate change and its inherent
damage to the global environment.
The most extensive of these efforts
is the 2015 Paris Agreement and the
United Nations sanctioned pursuit of
an international agreement on climate
change to succeed the Kyoto Protocol
– the IPCC Special Report, a landmark
environmental accord adopted by almost
every nation in the world, to address
climate change and its negative impacts.
The deals aim to reduce substantially
global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to
mitigate a global temperature increase in
this century to 1.5 degrees Celsius above
pre-industrial levels.
In context, to achieve just 1.5 degrees
of warming, we need to decrease
emissions five times faster than our
current rate, every year from now until
2100. Extrapolating from our current
burn rate, we will spend our emissions
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Stefan Spaulding from World Link Industry
Engineering explains how the universal
benchmark of mitigating an increase in
global temperature to 1.5 degrees is
within reach
budget by 2034, 66 years ahead of
schedule. This trajectory, founded on
IPCC data, leaves us at 4 degrees of
warming by the end of the century.
Climate deniers have jumped at the
opportunity to identify that 1.5 degrees
is an ambitious target. It might be, but
its ambitiousness does not preclude
acknowledging its necessity.
The influence of the failure to meet
these targets cannot be understated.
Intensified desertification, increased
water scarcity, ocean acidification, loss of
biodiversity, extinction of species, coastal
flooding and even human deaths caused
by heat waves and increased toxicity are
some of the significant potential impacts
from rising global temperatures. As a
result, governments and carbon-intensive
industries across the region are exploring
ways to reduce their emissions footprint,
to meet the ambitious goals set by efforts
such as the Paris Agreement.
EMISSIONS INTENSIVE
The oil & gas industry is among the
most globally emissions intensive. The
processing and use of oil & gas accounts
for over half of global greenhouse
gas emissions associated with the
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consumption of energy. A rejuvenated
global interest through landmark
agreements like the IPCC Special Report
has created more pressure for oil & gas
companies to mitigate their greenhouse
gas (GHG) emissions.
GHG emissions in downstream oil &
gas operations accounts for 90 percent of
global emissions in the oil & gas industry.
Increased scrutiny has led some oil & gas
companies like Shell, Total and BP (to
name a few) to allocate more resources
and substantiate serious consideration
in the business logic for green growth,
emissions reduction, and efficiency
optimisation.
To achieve just 1.5
degrees of warming,
we need to decrease
emissions five times
faster than our
current rate
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With these and many more of the
market-leading forces in the industry
strategically focusing their collective
capacity in support of a climate
agreement like Paris, sustainable
developments and mitigation investments
can spell a system change, one which
gives us more hope. Furthermore, if
coupled with ongoing manufacturing
shifts in future-oriented and innovative
technologies, we could see a global
movement in reaching the unilateral
frontier of mitigating to 1.5 degrees
with the speed and scale required — a
far cry from climate-denier claims of
unachievable goals.
Authoritatively written reports by
multiple consultancies citing current
literature and scientific analyses have
stated that there is a clear business
logic emerging for turning the talk
of 1.5 degrees into a robust policy
framework. This logic is based not
just on minimising climate risk, but on
maximising the upside of long term
investment and receiving higher returns
and cost efficiencies through the use of
technological innovation.
STORAGE EMISSIONS
Storage of liquid hydrocarbon is always
combined with creation of emissions
due to product evaporation. Refineries
are facing more and more stringent
regulations; however, there are a handful
of companies investing in solutions to
increase significantly refinery operational
efficiency while reducing product and
asset loss.
Storage tanks are a common cause
of air emissions at refineries. In a typical
tank, the space over the top of the liquid
becomes saturated with the vapour of the
stored liquid. These saturated vapours
PCK Raffinerie GmbH have been WLI-E’s
established partner in the long-term goal
of emission reduction and efficiency
optimisation in Germany
STO RAG E T E R M I N A L S M AGA Z I N E S U M M E R 2 01 9
include a large proportion of GHGs
and VOCs (volatile organic compounds,
dependant on the stored liquid) and
can be released from the tank into the
atmosphere in several different ways,
such as:
3 Expansion and contraction of the
vapours because of temperature
and barometric pressure changes
3 Displacement of the vapours
during filling
3 Direct evaporation (exposure
to the air)
The mitigation of these losses has been
central in the development of World Link
Industry Engineering GmbH (WLI-E).
“Our environment and the future of
our living space are some of the main
reasons why our future-oriented green
technology company exists,” says
managing director Joanna Hajnaj. “The
combination of our in-house engineering
team with collectively over 40 years of
industry-specific experience and our
driving product-development team has
led us to achieve global benchmarks such
as a truly gas-tight seal, patent-pending
100 percent fire-resistant products and
efficiency optimisation while dramatically
reducing emissions in storage tanks.”
The development of these
technologically advanced products
enables us to garner dramatic results
in emission reduction. Compared to an
industry standard foam-seal, our ONE
Seal achieves a 93.9 percent reduction
in emissions in a 52m diameter crude oil
tank, resulting in a huge advancement
not only in the prevention of hazardous
vapours into the environment but also
prevention of the loss economic potential
through evaporation of assets.
WLI-E’s patent-pending 100 percent top-side fire-proof
GRP Floating Roof is an unsinkable construction, which
coupled with WLI-E’s ONE Seal substantiates a 93.9
percent increase in emission reduction compared to the
industry standard foam seal
| Celebrating 10 years of Storage Terminals Magazine
EMISSIONS CONTROL
There is a clear
business logic
emerging for turning
the talk of 1.5 degrees
into a robust policy
framework
PCK Raffinerie GmbH has been WLI-
E’s established partner in the long term
goal of emission reduction and efficiency
optimisation in Germany and has
enabled us to develop products like our
patent-pending unsinkable, 100 percent
top-side fire proof GRP floating roof, the
NXT-IFR & EFR and the elegantly
innovative ballooning relief, BR-Valve.
Globally, GHG, hydrocarbon and
VOC emissions is one of the biggest
threats to our planet. Therefore, the
declared goal of our company is the
continuous improvement of the SGU
and engineering standard to achieve an
even safer and more environmentally
friendly working environment for all
stakeholders now and for our shared
future. Universally, our collective goal as
operators within the oil & gas industry
should be the practical application of
innovative solutions to mitigate global
warming to 1.5 degrees. For anyone
looking to optimise their storage
tank terminal, the time to make your
meaningful contribution is now.
Stefan Spaulding, Director of Marketing
Operations - World Link Industry
Engineering GmbH.
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