May 7, 2007 by Walter Schneider.

Edmonton Journal; Page A18 Opinion
(Original source-location)

Residents need protection from stockpiles of this flammable byproduct of oilsands processing

BY DENNIS MASCHMEYER
and BARRY EASTWOOD
(Full Story)

Posted in Explosions & Fires, Community & Industry, Pollution: Health Issues, Hazco, World Sulphur Glut, Sulphur-Dioxide | Print | No Comments »

March 7, 2007 by Walter Schneider.

North American Oil Sands Corporation posted documents regarding its proposed oilsands upgrader west of and close to Bruderheim. Full Story

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Note by folc.ca: Every Bitumen upgrader or desulphurization unit constructed will not only add a considerable amount of local air pollution that is aways scoffed off as being within acceptable limit but nevertheless helps to increase background levels of air pollution and haze.  It will also add substantially to the world sulphur glut.

Posted in Emission Incidents & Issues, World Sulphur Glut, Sulphur Logistics, Sulphur-Related Construction Costs | Print | No Comments »

February 26, 2007 by Walter Schneider.

Transitions Online (TOL) and neweurasia, February 23rd, 2007Tengiz, Kazakhstan’s biggest onshore oil field, is known to produce sulphur-rich crude. ChevronTexaco, exploring, developing and producing at Tengiz since the early 1990s, has had different ideas how to get rid of this unwanted by-product. Until today, these attempts have not yielded any noticeable success, though. In 2001, St. Petersburg Times correspondent Christopher Pala reported:

There are 4.5 million tons of sulfur at Tengiz spread out on football-field-sized cakes that are 7.5 meters thick. And every day another 4,500 tons of liquid sulfur comes up with the oil and is sprayed with agricultural watering equipment out onto the yellow slabs, solidifying rapidly into a luminous, porous material that gives off hardly any odor at all….

“According to our data, this sulphur negatively affects the environment,” said Turaly Onerbayev, regional representative of the natural resources and environmental protection ministry.

The sheer size of the amassed sulphur deposits became an environmental hazard, and several people had to get relocated several miles away from wind corridors. The Guardian ran a story on this in 2002:

Even before the imposition of the fine, it was clear that about 3,000 people were having to be moved 50 miles away because of pollution - and they blame sulphur dust for their illnesses.

TCO [Tengizchevoil] denies the charge and says the sulphur is safe, but has decided to get rid of it. Until recently it had virtually no outlet for it; in landlocked Kazakhstan the only route out for large volumes of sulphur has been by rail, but TCO has used every available slot for transporting oil.

Now, however, TCO has linked up with the Russian oil pipelines, so most of its output no longer needs to go by rail. But there is a second problem: a worldwide sulphur glut. Some 40m tonnes of sulphur a year is used by industry, mostly in the form of sulphuric acid, but there is still an excess. From a peak of £100 a tonne in 1988, sulphur prices have dropped to £20 a tonne this year. To unload an additional six million tonnes on the market would mean the price would drop to near zero.

But TCO has to do something. It has put in a £30m plant to process the sulphur into flakes for the Chinese fertiliser market and granules for the western market. The flakes are already being exported by rail to China and the granules will be heading west to Black Sea ports for European and American markets.

At most TCO expects to be selling 3,000 tonnes a week next year [2003], but even that vast quantity means the sulphur mountain will still be growing at 1,000 tonnes a week. (Full Story)

…There is not a lot Chevron can do. The world market price for sulphur is relatively weak and would of course not survive a massive injection of the Tengiz deposits without plunging. The further reprocessing of the sulphur to chemical fertiliser has been attempted, but also here prices are volatile and of course very supply-elastic.

The bottom line is that Chevron would have to invest millions of dollars to get rid of the stuff - without earning a single dime….Chevron has one month to come up with an action plan on how to get rid of the now almost 10 million tonnes of sulphur that have piled up….(Full Story and Photo)

Posted in Fines & Penalties, Emission Incidents & Issues, World Sulphur Glut, Sulphur Logistics | Print | No Comments »

February 26, 2007 by Walter Schneider.

By Aditya Shirali ‘08, Cornell University…Chinese health officials have noticed a troubling increase in respiratory and cardiovascular diseases due to pollution….Sulfur dioxide, a noxious compound produced in coal combustion, contributes to approximately 400,000 premature deaths a year in China through its damaging effects on the environment and health of citizens (Bradsher & Barboza, World Business)….Sulfur dioxide results in the formation of acid rain, which now falls on approximately 30% of China’s cultivated land area (EIA 2006). Consumption of crops and water affected by acid rain can have drastic effects on human health, such as arsenic poisoning and suppression of the immune system. However, a source of worry regarding acid rain is the destruction of crop yields, significantly inhibiting the growth of the agricultural sector….China has seen a soaring rise in respiratory diseases, which are currently the leading cause of death in China….In an attempt to reduce sulfur dioxide emission, the Chinese government established protocols to require smokestacks of all new coal-fired plants to be fitted with devices that remove up to 95 percent of the sulfur (Bradsher & Barboza, World Business).* (Full Story)
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* Note by folc.ca: That ought to have a negative impact on Canada’s (read Alberta’s) prospects to increase waste sulphur exports to China.  The world market for waste sulphur is already glutted.

Posted in Acid Rain, Pollution: Health Issues, Heavy-Metal Poisoning & Pollution, Emission Incidents & Issues, Sulphur Logistics, World Sulphur Glut, Sulphur-Dioxide | Print | No Comments »

February 21, 2007 by Walter Schneider.

NEP&I (North of England P&I Club, marine insurance mutuals), Dec. 22, 2006

Emission Limits and Requirements for Auxiliary Diesel Engines and Diesel Electric Engines within Californian Waters

From the 1st of January 2007 all ocean going vessels calling at California ports will have to ensure that auxiliary engines and all diesel electric engines are operating with gas oil or diesel with a maximum sulphur content of 0.5% when within 24 nautical miles from the Californian baseline. [That equates to a sulphur content of 20,000 ppm by weight. — ed. *]

Owners and Operators who’s vessels exceed this limit may be prosecuted under California’s Health and Safety Law….

From 2010 vessels will require to use marine gas oil with a maximum sulphur content of 0.1%. (Full Story)

Update 2007 11 08 by folc.ca: In September of 2007 the US Federal Government nixed this California legislation. It is curious that the driving force for that was the US Environment Protection Agency.

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*See also: REGULATIONS FOR AUXILIARY DIESEL ENGINES AND DIESEL-ELECTRIC ENGINES OPERATED ON OCEAN-GOING VESSELS WITHIN CALIFORNIA WATERS AND 24 NAUTICAL MILES OF THE CALIFORNIA BASELINE (39 kB PDF file)

Without a doubt, marine diesel fuel is a concern with respect to air pollution, as shown in the photo (at right) of the diesel-exhaust plume (visible in the lower right of the photo) laid down by the cruise ship Norwegian Wind on a tour to Alaska (June 8, 2006, near Haines, Alaska).

Obviously the emission reduction targets set by the California regulation are no more than a pittance in the fight to curb SO₂ emissions from bunker fuel. All that the California regulations achieve is to set the limit for the sulphur content in marine bunker fuel to be no higher than 1,333 times than that in ultra-low-sulphur diesel. (Some marine bunker fuels can contain as much as 1.5% sulphur in designated areas, while the sulphur content of some No. 6 bunker fuels can be as high 6%.) Even the 2010 target limit for sulphur content in marine bunker fuel will still permit marine bunker fuel to have a sulphur content that is 267 times higher than the 15 ppm in ultra-low-sulphur diesel, but that will be a considerably more effective restriction.

It must therefore be concluded that marine diesel or bunker fuel is until then a convenient vehicle for the disposal of waste sulphur on a very large scale by spewing it into the environment in the form of SO₂. Marine diesel exhaust plumes are loaded with SO₂; and the one shown in the photo is from just a single ship. A number of cruise ships travel this route each day during the tourist season. Although tourism is vital to Alaska’s economy, that makes it far from being environmentally friendly.

Well, at least Californians now have the benefit of the illusion that something effective is being done to curb air pollution caused by ships.

Nevertheless, the sulphur-content restrictions for marine bunker fuel in California and other localities will increase the world’s waste-sulphur inventory and the waste-sulphur storage requirements in the US. The world market for waste sulphur is already seriously glutted, and the tightening emission restrictions on SO₂ will increase the severity of that glut. That decreases the market potential for Alberta waste sulphur. The question now is by how much the California regulations and those in other localities increase the likelihood that waste sulphur will be stored at the proposed sulphur storage and handling facility in the County of Lamont.

See also: Europe likely to slash Marine sulfur, emissions

One recent study for the EC [European Commission] found that ship-borne sulfur dioxide [SO₂] emissions will account for at least 30% of all airborne SO₂ in Europe by 2010 (see Diesel Fuel News 11/27/2000, p2). But updated forecasts indicate that marine SO₂ could rise to the equivalent of 75-100% of all Europe’s land-based SO₂ emissions by 2010, Robinson said….Sweden, Belgium and France already ban the sale of higher-sulfur marine gasoil….

Posted in Bunker Fuel, Emission Incidents & Issues, World Sulphur Glut, Sulphur Logistics, Ultra-Low-Sulphur Diesel | Print | No Comments »

December 21, 2006 by Walter Schneider.

Exxon Mobil and China Petroleum & Chemical, or Sinopec, will likely benefit from demand for cleaner burning fuel in Vietnam after the country cuts the amount of sulfur allowed in diesel, analysts said.

Vietnam National Petroleum and Saigon Petroleum will have to pay more for diesel imports after the acceptable level of sulfur, a pollutant, was reduced by half to 0.25 percent. *

Full Story at THANHNIENNEWS.com

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* Note by folc.ca: That will be a reduction to 400 ppm compared to the new North-American standard for ultra-low-sulphur diesel of 15 ppm. Obviously Exxon Mobil and Sinopec find it is a lot cheaper for them to dispose of their waste sulphur through polluting the Vietnamese environment with SO2 emissions than to clean up their act.
The downside of that news item of course is that a lot more waste sulphur will be added to the world’s excess waste sulphur inventory, thereby lessening the market potential for Alberta’s waste sulphur and increasing the probability that waste sulphur will be stored in Lamont County.

Posted in Emission Incidents & Issues, World Sulphur Glut, Ultra-Low-Sulphur Diesel, Sulphur-Dioxide | Print | No Comments »

December 20, 2006 by Walter Schneider.

Canadian company to build $4 billion project Sherwood Park News

Posted in World Sulphur Glut, Sulphur-Related Construction Costs | Print | No Comments »

December 14, 2006 by Walter Schneider.

Ross Business Consulting, News OnlineKiev, 2006 12 12

Source

Kazakhstan to look at oil[- and sulphur]  transit discounts for Ukraine

Kazakhstan will consider a 40-percent discount on oil transit and a 30-percent discount on sulfur transportation from Kazakhstan to Ukrainian sea ports and border crossings with third countries. This is provided for by the protocol signed by Ukrainian-Kazakhstani intergovernmental commission for economic partnership.

Alongside this, Kazakhstan will look into creation of competitive tariffs for Uzbek cotton transit via Ukraine and Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan will report the results to Ukraine within a month. The parties will also keep working on the new Silk Road linking China, Kazakhstan, Ukraine and Western Europe.

Posted in World Sulphur Glut | Print | No Comments »

November 24, 2006 by Walter Schneider.

Source (off-site)

French engineering and construction services company Technip has been awarded a contract worth approximately €67 million by PKN Orlen S.A. for the construction of a new diesel oil hydrodesulphurization unit in its refinery in Plock, in the center of Poland.

Hydrodesulphurization is a catalytic refining technology consisting in extracting sulphur contained in a petroleum product either to protect downstream unit catalysts or to maintain sulphur content at the level prescribed by the European norm intended to reduce transportation-related air pollution.

Technip’s operations and engineering center in Rome, Italy, will execute the project. The construction of the unit is scheduled to be completed in June 2009.
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Note by folc.ca: The story would have been much more informative if it had addressed how much waste sulphur will be produced by the process and what will be done with that waste sulphur.
That issue will greatly interest anyone wishing to make a living from selling sulphur produced by large desulpurization projects.

Posted in World Sulphur Glut, Sulphur Logistics, Ultra-Low-Sulphur Diesel, Hydrogen-Sulphide, Sulphur-Dioxide | Print | No Comments »

April 29, 2006 by Walter Schneider.

Judy Monchuk
The Canadian Press

Saturday, April 29, 2006

CREDIT: Larry MacDougal, Canadian Press
PRESIDENT: Clive Mather, president and CEO of Shell Canada, talks to the media after the company’s annual general meeting in Calgary on Friday.

CALGARY - Shell Canada Ltd. (TSX:SHC) is reassessing projected costs of its oilsands development to account for labour shortages and soaring expenses in Alberta’s booming economy, the energy giant’s president said Friday….

Shell had two major projects come on stream earlier this year: upgrades to refineries in Montreal and on the outskirts of Edmonton which will process ultra low-sulphur diesel….(Full Story — off-site)
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Note by folc.ca: Rising constructions costs are not all that plagues Shell and other oil producers.
“Ultra low-sulphur diesel” (ULSD) means more stringent removal of sulphur. That is about a 97% reduction of the sulphur contained in low-sulphur diesel (LSD). The very large reduction in sulphur content is based on the latest US EPA standard. (LSD sulphur content is 500ppm vs. a ULSD sulphur content of 15ppm)* The new standard has been adhered to for a number of years in countries other than Canada. Tarsands crude contains about 5 percent sulphur by mass (about 5.7kg per barrel), of which virtually all must be stripped before fuel produced from bitumen may be put on the market. Where will all of that waste sulphur go in a saturated world market? Will HAZCO dump it into the County of Lamont?

Tarsands oil production was 550,000 bpd in 1995, increased to 1.1 million bpd by 2004 and is expected to rise to 5 million bpd by 2030. We can therefore expect that the Tarsands oil producers will be looking for space to store the major portion of 28,500 tonnes of waste sulphur that will by that time be produced each day.

* Ultra-low sulfur diesel and the new 2006 US EPA regulations
(Canada will follow suit in about 2007)

Total sulphur consumption in the whole world is presently at about 60 million tons each year and not expected to rise much, if at all. By 2001 the world total sulphur inventory (stored waste sulphur) was close to 30 million tons and increasing at the rate of about 11 percent per year. At that rate of growth it will reach 220 million tons by 2030. (Source: Sulphur Surplus in the Making Impacts Refineries (2003), by R.J. Morris, The [US] Sulphur Institute)

Posted in World Sulphur Glut, Sulphur Logistics, Ultra-Low-Sulphur Diesel, Sulphur-Related Construction Costs | Print | No Comments »