The electrical energy requirements for a refinery vary depending on 

 the complexity and efficiency of the processing units. An efficient 

 refinery may require 2 kilowatt-hours per BBL, while an inefficient one 

 uses up to 9 kilowatt-hours per BBL. A refinery may generate its own 

 electrical power or purchase it from commercial sources. In either case, 

 the additional power generated for the oil refinery also may entail 

 production of more thermal effluent and output of pollutants, with such 

 accompanying problems as entrainment of marine life in cooling waters 

 (a 200,000 B/D refinery may use over 25 million gallons of water per day 

 for cooling) . 



Although air pollution and noise are assumed to have minor effects on 

 fish and wildlife, these disturbances do have major direct impacts on 

 humans and therefore may be critical in siting, design, construction, and 

 operation of refineries. 



Sources of high noise levels at a refinery are compressors, boilers, 

 furnaces, blowers, and cracking unit coolers. A modern refinery, which 

 uses the best available technology for suppressing noise and has an 

 adequate buffer area between its neighbors and processing units, can 

 significantly decrease noise annoyance. 



Major emissions to the atmosphere from a refinery may be generated 

 from elements of the processing system, such as cracking and coking units; 

 from machinery, such as boilers and compressors; and from leaks in pipe 

 valves and seals and storage tanks. The concentration of these emissions, 

 which include hydrocarbons, sulfur oxides and particulate matter, depends 

 on the chemical characteristics of the crude oil, the types of processing 

 units, and the pollution control equipment installed. Further air problems 

 originate with releases of vaporized hydrocarbons into the air at transfer 

 points such as marine terminals (Section 3.2). Refinery odor emission 

 sources are storage tanks, hydrocarbon-contaminated wastewater, pipeline 

 leaks, and leaks of liquids and gases from the process units [22]. 



Subnroject: Site Preparation (SP-5) 



Disturbing Activity: Clearing, grading 



A new refinery site normally requires a large tract of land to 

 provide for initial needs for the plant layout, to provide sufficient 

 buffer area, and to allow future expansion. Often a surprisingly small 

 portion of the area will be cleared and graded for the processing units 

 and storage tanks. For example, the Mobil refinery at Joliet, Illinois, 

 occupies a 1200-acre site, of which 90 acres are used for storage and 65 

 ,'es for processing units [7]. The work area, especially, requires an 

 :equate buffer strip to minimize dust and noise problems and to aid in 

 "^unoff water filtration. There will be little to no wildlife habitat 

 remaining after refinery construction. Some bird and aquatic life may be 

 attracted to water treatment ponds. 



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