Waste Treatment and Management in Chlor-Alkali Industries

© 2017 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. 100The chlor-alkali industry produces chlorine (Cl 2) and caustic soda from brines, by electrolysis of a salt solution. The world’s chlorine capacity at the beginning of 1988 was approximately 42.3 million metric tons per year and the corresponding caustic capacity was approximately 46.1 million metric tons per year. Three main technologies applied for chlor-alkali production are mercury cell, diaphragm cell, and membrane cell process. Each process has a different method for producing chlorine at the anode, and producing caustic soda and hydrogen, directly or indirectly, at the cathode. This chapter describes the manufacturing processes, energy requirement, waste characterization, environmental impacts, pollution prevention and abatement, treatment technologies, costs, monitoring, global overview, and standard requirement of air emission and effluents discharge of the chlor-alkali industry

Air quality in the Industrial Heartland of Alberta, Canada and potential impacts on human health

The “Industrial Heartland” of Alberta is Canada’s largest hydrocarbon processing center, with more than 40 major chemical, petrochemical, and oil and gas facilities. Emissions from these industries affect local air quality and human health. This paper characterizes ambient levels of 77 volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the region using high-precision measurements collected in summer 2010. Remarkably strong enhancements of 43 VOCs were detected, and concentrations in the industrial plumes were often similar to or even higher than levels measured in some of the world’s largest cities and industrial regions. For example maximum levels of propene and i-pentane exceeded 100 ppbv, and 1,3-butadiene, a known carcinogen, reached 27 ppbv. Major VOC sources included propene fractionation, diluent separation and bitumen processing. Emissions of the measured VOCs increased the hydroxyl radical reactivity (k(OH)), a measure of the potential to form downwind ozone, from 3.4 s(−1) in background air to 62 s(−1) in the most concentrated plumes. The plume value was comparable to polluted megacity values, and acetaldehyde, propene and 1,3-butadiene contributed over half of the plume k(OH). Based on a 13-year record (1994–2006) at the county level, the incidence of male hematopoietic cancers (leukemia and non-Hodgkin lymphoma) was higher in communities closest to the Industrial Heartland compared to neighboring counties. While a causal association between these cancers and exposure to industrial emissions cannot be confirmed, this pattern and the elevated VOC levels warrant actions to reduce emissions of known carcinogens, including benzene and 1,3-butadiene