The Challenge

The loading, transportation, and unloading of petroleum liquids—whether by tanker, rail car, tank truck, or pipeline—creates many opportunities for evaporation loss. Loading losses are the primary source of evaporative emissions, and occur as organic vapors in "empty" cargo tanks are displaced by the liquid being loaded. During truck loading of condensate or crude oil from a tank battery, hazardous VOCs—and often H2S—are emitted from the tanker's vent line. Likewise, during the loading of BS&W (basic sediment and water) or produced water, hazardous VOCs and H2S are emitted from the vacuum pump exhaust. These hazardous vapors are a composite of

• Evaporation of residual product from previous loads

• New product loaded into the tank

• Vapor balance systems as product is unloaded

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The amount of evaporative loss depends on several factors:

• Physical and chemical characteristics of the previous cargo

• Method of unloading the previous cargo

• Operations to transport the empty carrier to a loading terminal

• Method of loading the new cargo

• Physical and chemical characteristics of the new cargo

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Many of Vapor Point's clients in the Texas and Louisiana oil plays—the Barnett Shale, the Eagleford Shale, and others—were concerned that the hazards and odors from tank truck loading operations were compromising the health and safety of workers, testing compliance requirements, and alienating landowners. VOC emissions also cause related dangers: VOCs can trigger "diesel runaway," which in turn could lead to an explosion. 

 

Recognizing their responsibility to protect workers, landowners, and the environment, our oil and gas clients asked Vapor Point to engineer an economical solution that could stand up to the challenges of remote locations.

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The VaporLockTM Solution

When we studied the problem, our engineers identified a number of critical attributes for these installations: 

• Long-term sustainability while maintaining a high level of efficiency

• Minimal maintenance requirements, with only periodic inspections required

• No outside power required to operate 

• Quick and easy connections to encourage consistent adoption by truck operators

• Scalable to the requirements of the application

• Adaptable to either permanent installations, or interim solutions while permanent sales or transmission pipelines or terminals are being constructed

• Highly cost-effective 

 

To satisfy these myriad requirements, Vapor Point engineered a simple but scalable VaporLock array. Each installation includes one or two VOC vessels, depending on application requirements. If H2S gas is anticipated or subsequently encountered, a SourSorb VaporLock unit is added. All vessels are positioned within a containment berm, and include a generous length of tank-truck hose and all required valves.
 

Our systems simultaneously satisfy all regulators, greatly enhance health and safety, and promote good relations with landowners.

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Results

• Operators maintained up to 98% control efficiency, easily satisfying existing permit requirements

• Operators reported increased landowner satisfaction

• Operators reported increased sense of worker safety and job satisfaction