Measured and estimated benzene and volatile organic carbon (VOC) emissions at a major U.S. refinery/chemical plant: Comparison and prioritization

Estimates of emissions for processes and point sources at petroleum refineries and chemical plants provide the foundation for many other environmental evaluations and policy decisions. The most commonly used method, based on emission factors, results in unreliable estimates. More information regarding the actual emissions within a facility is necessary to provide a foundation for improving emission factors and prioritizing which emission factors most need improvement. Identification of which emission factors both perform poorly and introduce the largest error is needed to provide such a prioritization. To address this need, benzene and volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions within a major chemical plant/refinery were measured and compared with emission factor estimates. The results of this study indicate estimated emissions were never higher and commonly lower than the measured emissions. At one source location, VOC emissions were found to be largely representative of those measured (i.e., the catalyti...