Hebei launches a summer campaign to tackle air pollution, with chemical enterprises being a key focus for emission reduction efforts

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Hebei Launches Summer Campaign to Tackle Air Pollution; Chemical Enterprises Become Focus of Emission Reduction Efforts Author/Source: Sinochem News Network Date: July 10, 2019 Clicks: 2 On July 5, reporters learned from a press conference held by the Hebei Provincial Department of Ecology and Environment that the province has launched a summer campaign to address air pollution issues. This includes accelerating the reduction of production capacity and the relocation of factories from urban areas, as well as implementing measures to ensure ultra-low emissions in key industries. Special campaigns will also be carried out to address problems related to unregulated enterprises, illegal gas stations, the use of coal for heating, VOCs, and to promote cleaner alternatives. 　　June to September is a critical period for making full efforts in the basic work related to air pollution control in Hebei Province; it is also a season during which PM10 and ozone play a prominent role as the main pollutants, affecting the number of days with good air quality. To this end, the Provincial Air Pollution Control Office issued the \"Plan for the Summer Campaign to Tackle Air Pollution Concentrately in Hebei Province\". 　　The reporter learned that the \"rectification plan\" specifies that for the highly polluting processes in key industries such as chemicals and coking, differentiated management approaches should be explored in order to precisely control pollutant emissions. Regarding \"capacity reduction and relocation out of cities,\" it is proposed to phase out outdated production processes that do not comply with industrial policies, and to accelerate the process of reducing the capacity of enterprises (production lines) included in the annual reduction plan, with the goal of stopping pollutant emissions by the end of October. For enterprises scheduled for relocation out of cities as part of the annual plan, efforts should be made to speed up this process, so that those meeting the requirements can stop emitting pollutants by the end of September, with the aim of achieving complete cessation of pollutant emissions by the end of October. It is also proposed to ensure that all enterprises in the coking industry that meet the conditions for transformation complete such transformations to achieve ultra-low emission levels by the end of September. 　　“The “Rectification Plan” specifies the need to carry out a special campaign for comprehensive VOCs control. Focus on industries such as petrochemicals, coking, pharmaceuticals, and chemicals to carry out VOCs leakage detection. Among them, enterprises with 2,000 or more sealing points are identified as key enterprises under strict supervision, and a regular VOCs leakage detection system is established for them. Promote the substitution of raw materials and auxiliary materials containing volatile organic compounds, in order to reduce the use of organic solvents and those with high VOC content; explore the use of non-halogenated and non-aromatic hydrocarbon solvents in the pharmaceutical and pesticide industries; encourage the use of new types of coupling agents, adhesives, paraffin oils, and other additives in the rubber products industry. 　　“The improvement plan proposes to step up efforts to control VOCs from gas generators in the coal chemical industry, and to prohibit the direct reuse of phenol-containing wastewater. It also calls for accelerating the implementation of indirect cooling for gas produced by fixed-bed batch gasifiers in industries such as nitrogen fertilizer production, as well as for the collection and utilization of purge gas and other related gases. Additionally, efforts will be made to develop a monitoring system for volatile organic compounds, and an online monitoring and supervision platform for VOCs will be established to enable real-time monitoring and dynamic management of key industrial enterprises that emit VOCs.