government and industry to reduce emissions from pollution sources such as automobiles, refineries, chemical plants, and power plants. However, it seems as though every solution to meet the stringent requirements poses another problem. The Clean Air Act has been amended several times, and most recently it is to be amended to ban MTBE’s by the year 2002.Many of the large oil companies, including Tosco Corp., have already made plans to completely remove MTBE’s from their fuel production (MTBE’s have already been removed from Connecticut fuel production). Currently the EPA requires operators of facilities handling a regulated substance that exceeded a threshold quantity to prepare a Risk Management Plan (RMP). However, According to Hydrocarbon Processing (Nov 1997), it is the EPA’s intention to implement a nationwide standard in accordance with policies specified by ISO 14001 (an International Organization Standard related to environmentally hazardous materials).REFINERY OPERATIONSMost people do not understand the complete process involved with fuel production. However, it is necessary to understand when the quality control of the product or the operation is being analyzed. A Refinery is a factory that cost billions to build, millions to maintain, and they run around the clock 365 days per year. They create the basis for many of the products that we see and/or use daily. The following is a short list of some of those products: AmmoniaBubble GumCrayonsDenture AdhesiveEyeglass FramesEyeglass framesPlasticsAntisepticsFloor PolishGuitar StringsHeart ValvesPaintMascara To put it simply, there are three basic steps that can be clearly identified in the production process. The first step is the separation of the petroleum. The next step is the conversion process so that definitive boundaries between the types of petroleum can be set. Last is the treatment of the finished product.Separation is as simple as separa...
