They’re called fugitives. And like their masked-bandit namesakes, they’ll escape—along with untold amounts of lost earnings—if you let them.

Fortunately, the industry is giving chase. Known as volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions, the product is something midstream providers are working hard to ensure they don’t lose.

And they have good reasons for reducing these emissions. After all, investing in effective vapor emission controls can have huge payoffs in the realms of safety, the environment and economics—some experts peg savings in the billions. And with activists intensifying pressure on midstream companies to be environmentally responsible, some say the timing is right to make reducing emissions a priority.

“The midstream has done a magnificent job of reducing emissions,” Monty Goodell, an energy expert who has spent decades helping companies with environmental compliance, tells Midstream Business. “The air is getting cleaner. That’s because we’re doing a better job of capturing the lost or unaccounted for gas.”

Spending to save

Though vapor recovery has grown significantly during the past five years, not all companies have been quick to embrace the trend. Some midstream companies put vapor recovery on the back burner as they work to save money
in order to be competitive. However, there are consequences to not upgrading equipment, says Engineered Concepts LLC’s Marketing Director Jim Barnes.

“There are a lot of antiquated systems in operation as well as antiquated technologies and methods being employed due to human nature’s resist-change attitude and pressure from top management to reduce capital expenditures even though the long-term benefits are both monetary and environmental,” Barnes tells Midstream Business.

“Top management is forced by stockholders to make the most of the bottom line now, and vapor recovery is a capital
expense that often takes the hit.”

Neglecting to invest in effective VOC controls can be counterproductive financially.

An operator’s profits can be hurt when hydrocarbon products are lost to the atmosphere. Examples of VOCs include
benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylenes (BTEX) as well as methane and hazardous air pollutants. The products can be released in the dehydration process and the storage of fluids. Other culprits include leaking valves, pumps, pipe or
other flow components of a process system. As well, hydrocarbon vapors can be lost through old-fashioned dehydration removal methods and poorly equipped storage tanks.

Failing to upgrade equipment can “easily amount to billions of dollars every year,” says Barnes

“The Btu value of the gas emitted from storage tanks is approximately twice the value of the natural gas being produced,” he says. “When we run computer-modeling scenarios, most midstream operators are surprised at the amount of lost revenues that are emitted to the atmosphere. Even with worst-case modeling scenarios, it is a lot
of money lost on a daily basis.”

The payback can be huge, agrees Townsend Hilliard, presidents of PURGIT Vapor Control Systems.

“In certain applications, you can recover thousands of dollars’ worth of product from the vapor alone,” he tells Midstream Business. “We have used our recovery equipment in dozens of applications, in particular storage tank and tank barge maintenance applications or cargo loading applications where you’re displacing vapor. Generally the recovered material will at least pay for a quarter of our service, and sometimes it will do more than pay for our service.”

Thinking green

Environmental stewardship is a key driver behind controlling VOCs, says Hilliard. “From a midstream perspective, if you can do business without harming the environment, that should be the only way you’re doing business,” he says. “Controlling volatile organic compounds is an easy thing to do and is relatively cheap compared to everything else.”

PURGIT offers a variety of emission-control products, including portable-flare and fixed-flare systems, as well as refrigerated vapor recovery units (RVRUs). It is also a service provider for storage tank, pipeline and tank barge degassing applications. The company has a fleet of mobile equipment to control vapors and gas emissions on a rental basis, too. Its RVRU degassing method allows it to collect and remove VOCs from gas tanks—without even having to open the tank.\

“The operational and environmental benefits are significant,” according to information on PURGIT’s website. “Our condensers make zero pollution. The gasses are condensed back to liquid that is recycled or reused. There is no
unprotected source of ignition.

Meanwhile, pressure from the public continues to mount. Methane has become the latest enemy of environmentalists, since it is 21 times more destructive as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. Barnes says dehydrator venting is responsible for more than 80% of the oil and gas industry’s VOC emissions.

“We are seeing more public scrutiny coming into play,” says Barnes. “With the use of infrared cameras and other equipment, emissions will become more apparent to regulatory bodies and operators. When the public gets involved, politicians become active and so do lawyers. Many midstream operators are realizing this fact more
and more.”

Members of the public have also been raising concerns about suspicious odors, he says, which are caused by BTEX vapors. In sites with ineffective vapor control equipment, the smell can be overpowering, says Barnes.

“We have recently been contacted by community groups that are questioning what the midstream operators are doing or not doing,” he says. “Odors are what set the public groups off, and the midstream guys better wise up to this.”

Though regulations were driven largely by environmental concerns, safety concerns are just as compelling. Take, for instance, the ramifications of dumping flammable vapors into a work area, says Hilliard.

“Even if you stack them away from the job site, most of these vapors are heavier than air, so they’re going to settle
down eventually,” he says. “If they’re diluted enough to ignite, then you’re in real trouble. Every single explosion
that I’ve read about in the past 10 years has been the result of uncontrolled flammable vapors.”

Lost and found

It isn’t hard for vapors to be lost. When gas or crude oil is being loaded and transported—via rail, truck, pipeline or
barge—fugitive emissions are inevitable. For instance, when crude oil is being loaded into a rail car, vapor is pushed out as the liquid is poured in. Meantime, liquid with high vapor pressure (which Texas defines as being heavier than half a pound) often vaporize at high quantities when they are being loaded into a vessel. However, there are ways to catch the fugitive loading emissions before they’re gone forever. PURGIT has an application that can recover the vapors and either destroy them, or reliquify them for reuse.

Engineered Concepts also has VOC systems available. It offers a variety of dehydration processes to address BTEX and methane losses during the dehydration process. Its systems capture hydrocarbon emissions and either use them for dehydration, or send them to be sold as products.

“Large amounts of methane are lost to the atmosphere through the glycol pumps and still column,” says Barnes. “A good way to tell if a dehydration system is working properly is by your sense of smell. If the dehydration system is producing odors, it is very likely venting pollutants.”

Engineered Concepts also has stabilization and vapor recovery units (VRUs) that can minimize storage tank vapor losses. The company says it prefers to stabilize fluids and eliminate volatility prior to storage, which are key ways of minimizing fugitives.

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