{"id":2993,"date":"2021-01-13T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-01-12T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/epidor.com\/el-problema-de-las-emisiones-fugitivas-en-la-industria-de-proceso\/"},"modified":"2025-05-05T12:12:26","modified_gmt":"2025-05-05T10:12:26","slug":"the-problem-of-fugitive-emissions-in-the-process-industry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/epidor.com\/en\/blog\/el-problema-de-las-emisiones-fugitivas-en-la-industria-de-proceso\/","title":{"rendered":"The problem of fugitive emissions in the process industry"},"content":{"rendered":"

Many difficulties arise during the start-up of a plant, which are gradually resolved. Once the plant is up and running, other problems can arise without warning, such as very low flow rate leaks that are continuous and, over time, have an impact on the efficiency of the plant of interest.<\/span><\/p>\n

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It may happen that, in some of the valves that operate with pressurized fluids, vapors or gases leak through the union of the valve bodies or through the stem itself. Sometimes, these leaks are located in some of the flanged joints of the plant piping layout.<\/span><\/p>\n

What both leakage points have in common are the sealing joints and therefore, this will be the aspect to be dealt with to solve the problem that receives such an original name as \u201cFugitive Emissions\u201d or \u201cFugitive Emissions\".\u201c<\/span>Fugitive Emissions (FE<\/span><\/i>)\u201d, in English.<\/span><\/p>\n

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To understand the scope of this problem, the following table compares the annual loss between two gasket materials (PTFE's) suitable for steam service. Material \u201cA\u201d is not certified <\/span>TA-Luft VDI 2290<\/b>, unlike the \u201cB\u201d material, which does have this certification. This certification guarantees that the material has a leakage level below that established by the standard.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The annual leakage of \u201cA\u201d may seem small... but this result is for a single DN 80 gasket. In an average sized installation, adding flanges, valves and covers, there may be 400 DN 80 gaskets and in such a situation, the annual leakage grows to 220 kg of steam... this is steam that is lost with the consequent energy cost and environmental impact.<\/span><\/p>\n

If instead of steam, the leakage is of an environmentally harmful fluid, then there is a problem of fugitive emissions whose solution is to replace the current seals with others made of a material that, at least, has a low emission certification and ensures a very low leakage.<\/span><\/p>\n

The severity of the problem is accentuated by the cost of the fluid being lost. Perhaps, all of the above is much easier to understand if you read the result as comparing the water contained in a glass with the water that fits in a garden pool.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The glass (material B) is barely visible because the volume contained is more than 24,000 times smaller than that in the pool (material A).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

If there are still black spots related to fugitive emissions in your installation, do not hesitate to call us and our technicians will analyze the problem in detail.<\/span><\/p>\n

Finally, the current regulatory framework for fugitive emissions in industrial valves and fittings consists of the following standards, which define the tests to be performed and their procedures for stem valves and \u00bc-turn valves. .<\/span><\/p>\n