Air Quality Case Study

Vapour Recovery at Gas Processing

The Gas Processing Plant at the Port Kembla Steelworks refines the volatile components of coal that are driven off during the coking process into valuable by-products such as clean coke ovens gas, coal tar and BTX (Benzene, Toluene and Xylene). Many of the vessels within the Gas Processing plant are potential sources of vapour release as fugitive emissions.

To reduce organic vapour released during this process, each vessel is connected to a collection main. The recovered vapours are then returned to the main process flow. This project has delivered a 95 per cent decrease in emissions of benzene from gas processing to the atmosphere and reduces other emissions such as hydrogen cyanide and hydrogen sulphide.