UAE: Emarat Prepares VOC Stage II

Around 10,000 metric tonnes per year of petrol vapour is believed to be lost in the UAE alone from all petrol storage tanks.
Emarat's pilot vapour-recovery project is being carried out at Al Ittihad service station on Sheikh Zayed Road, at Al Ameen station on Al Wasl Road and Al Sayed station near Meena Road. Motorists filling up there will notice how there is no petrol "smell" as the vapour which usually escapes into the air is being captured by a vacuum-assisted system which draws vapour from the vehicle fuel tank while refuelling, said Adel Fairuz, facilities maintenance manager at Emirates General Petroleum Corporation (Emarat).

The captured vapour is then pushed back into the underground tank. Only a minimal 2-3 per cent of vapour is discharged for safety measures to release pressure inside the tanks, compared to the release of all vapour in non-adapted tanks. The technology has also been fitted to three Emarat fuel storage depots. Petrol road tankers are compliant too, taking up the vapour from underground storage tanks as it fills with petrol.

In Dubai, more than 80 Emarat stations will be fully retrofitted with vapour-recovery systems by 2010, added Fairuz. No comment was available from Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) or Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC) regarding this technology at their petrol stations.

Emarat has been implementing its own environment, health and safety standards based on international codes regarding vapour-recovery since 2005, when there were no local regulations to speak of, said Fairuz. Despite the ten-year return on investment after installing this technology, Emarat has done so to meet social and environmental responsibilities, he said. Dubai Municipality issued a notice to all petrol-marketing companies to take measures to limit hydrocarbon emission in early 2007.

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