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Shanghai Petrochemical’s VOC emissions have reached low levels – 4 hours ago? · Official account of China Development Network, China Economic Herald, China Development Network. Reporter: Miao Xiaoqin. The company has held the title of “China’s Environmentally Friendly Enterprise” for 9 consecutive years. Since the beginning of this year, Sinopec Shanghai has made further efforts to build a green enterprise, actively promoting the reduction of VOCs (volatile organic compounds). The goal for this year is to keep the average boundary VOCs concentration below 130 micrograms per cubic meter, thereby reaching a level that is ahead of that in the industry. VOCs are the main precursor substances that cause ozone pollution, and controlling VOCs is key to preventing the secondary formation of ozone. The waste gases generated during the production at Shanghai Petrochemical contain pollutants such as sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, dust, methanol, ethylene, hydrogen sulfide, acrylonitrile, and non-methane hydrocarbons. In recent years, the company has been working to continuously improve the environmental quality in the areas surrounding its facilities through a three-phase VOCs control program: from 2013 to 2015, 36 \"Clear Waters and Blue Skies\" projects were carried out ； From 2015 to 2018, in line with Shanghai’s Sixth Three-Year Environmental Protection Action Plan, the Shanghai Clean Air Action Plan, and the requirements for comprehensive environmental improvement in the Jinshan area, the second round of efforts was carried out to address environmental hazards and implement projects aimed at meeting new environmental standards ； From 2018 to 2020, 29 projects under the seventh round of comprehensive environmental improvement in Shanghai and the second round in Jinshan District were completed. In its comprehensive campaign against VOCs, Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical has taken five measures, achieving remarkable results. Implementation of upgrades to environmental protection facilities to reduce exhaust gases: This year, the company installed RTO units – a new type of efficient equipment for treating organic exhaust gases – in its storage and transportation tank area. These units enable the collection of exhaust gases from the tank area and their thorough incineration, thereby significantly reducing pollutants. An exhaust gas treatment system was installed at Unit 1 of the aromatic gasoline extraction plant in the aromatics department. The concentration of total non-methane hydrocarbons in the exhaust gas from the tank tops was around 3,900 milligrams per cubic meter before treatment, but it dropped to 2.9 milligrams per cubic meter after treatment, which is well below the **standard** of 120 milligrams per cubic meter. It is understood that in 2018, after undergoing \"ultra-low emission\" upgrades, the 6 coal-fired boilers at this company had average nitrogen oxide, sulfur dioxide, and dust emissions of 30 milligrams per cubic meter, 20 milligrams per cubic meter, and 2 milligrams per cubic meter respectively – levels that meet or exceed Shanghai’s new environmental standards. This meant that coal-fired power generation became as clean and environmentally friendly as gas-fired power generation, marking the entry of Shanghai Petrochemical’s coal-fired boilers into the era of \"ultra-low emissions\". By upgrading its environmental protection facilities, Sinopec Shanghai also achieved a 100% compliance rate in the treatment of wastewater and waste gases. Waste gas recovery through resource recycling: As early as January 2003, Sinopec Shanghai invested in the construction of a 30,000-cubic-meter low-sulfur flare gas recovery tank as well as 3 compression units for recovering gas from that tank. After the system is put into operation, 5,000 cubic meters of flare gas can be recovered per hour, resulting in an annual recovery volume of 30,000 tons. This portion of flare gas was added to the fuel gas network as fuel, thereby reducing the amount of liquefied gas used by the facility; approximately 25,000 tons of liquefied gas were replaced each year. In 2008, another project was launched to \"increase the capacity for flare gas recovery,\" enabling the on-site recovery of some high-sulfur flare gases. In August 2019, Sinopec Shanghai completed the installation of a high-sulfur flare gas recovery system, enabling the complete reuse of such gas and converting it into high-quality fuel. Advanced technologies are employed to detect exhaust gases. Shanghai Petrochemical was among the first to adopt LDAR (Leak Detection and Repair) technology; in February 2011, it initiated LDAR pilot projects in Shanghai. Professionals using highly sensitive \"electronic noses\" regularly checked sealing points, identified leaks, marked them with signs, and carried out repairs. In June 2015, Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical established a LDAR work leadership team to launch LDAR initiatives on a comprehensive scale, becoming one of the first companies within Sinopec’s group to carry out such work. In 2018, Sinopec Shanghai promoted full LDAR coverage, adding 167,900 new sealing points, bringing the total number of LDAR-covered points to 818,200. By the end of September 2019, another 99,000 sealing points were added, bringing the total number of sites covered by LDAR to 917,200. Shanghai Petrochemical has installed 5 relatively advanced and comprehensive automatic atmospheric monitoring stations. Based on these, 26 online monitoring points have been set up within the production area to conduct real-time monitoring of environmental air pollutants such as odors, total non-methane hydrocarbons, and VOCs, thereby forming a grid-based tracking system. At the same time, this system works in conjunction with regions such as Jinshan District and Pinghu City to establish an environmental emergency joint prevention system. Implementing meticulous management to control emissions at the source: Shanghai Petrochemical has specifically required its main production units to strengthen control at the source in order to ensure that exhaust gases are discharged in compliance with standards. Through meticulous management, various units identify gaps and take action to ensure that flue gas emissions meet the required standards. For example, Unit 5 of the refining complex in the refining department has two flue gas emission points, namely the scrubber tower of Unit 2 catalytic cracking unit and the heater of the catalytic gasoline adsorption desulfurization unit. This year, the facility established a task force to identify 18 key factors affecting flue gas quality. On this basis, the facility adopts standardized management, establishes strict operational control criteria for 7 key factors, optimizes the operating parameters at the critical stages of the environmental protection equipment, and improves the emergency response system; should there be any abnormalities in the emission data, analysis is carried out immediately during the shift, with corrective actions taken on the same day. Currently, 100% of the device’s flue gas emissions meet the standards. In April this year, the MTBE unit No. 1 at the Aromatics Department was shut down for maintenance, achieving safety and environmental protection goals; there were no unpleasant odors at the site, meeting the requirements for establishing a \"green enterprise\". Two months before the shutdown, the plant conducts research, discussions, and finalizes plans for shutting down and restarting. During the process handling phase, safety officers carried VOC detection \"electronic noses\" around the entire site; whenever an alarm sounded, they would immediately locate the source of the unusual odor, stop any unauthorized emissions promptly, and urge the operators to strictly follow the shutdown procedures. Carrying out mass environmental protection activities to detect unusual odors: In August 2018, the company launched the “10,000 Employees Campaign to Detect Unusual Odors” initiative. Through positive incentives, cadres and employees are encouraged to go to the production front line to check for unusual odors. According to statistics, from August 2018 to June 2019, the company received a total of 17,053 reports from employees regarding various environmental issues; 88.6% of these issues were resolved, while 15 cases are still on the plan for resolution. In recent years, the mass-based environmental protection initiatives carried out by Shanghai Petrochemical have been closely aligned with the actual needs of safety and environmental protection work, enabling employees to truly experience the strong atmosphere of \"Green development: we are taking action.\" As a result, they have actively joined initiatives such as \"I conduct safety assessments,\" \"All employees work together to detect unusual odors,\" and \"I offer suggestions for environmental protection.\" In September 2019, Sinopec Shanghai passed the reevaluation for the title of \"China’s Environmentally Friendly Enterprise\", an honor it has held since 2010