CEN/TC 264/WG 17 - Fugitive and diffuse emissions of common concern to industry sectors

This standard applies to the measurement of fugitive emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from process equipment. The leak sources include, but are not limited to, valves, flanges and other connections, pressure relief devices, process drains, open-ended valves, pump and compressor seal systems, agitator seals, and access door seals. It does not apply to instrument tubing connections.
This standard applies to all products of which at least 20 % wt has a vapour pressure higher than 0,3 kPa at 20 °C. For the petroleum industry, this includes all light products and excludes kerosene and all heavier products.
The standard is based on the measurement of the gas concentration at the interface of a leak. This concentration is measured with a portable instrument. It is converted to a mass emission rate by use of a set of correlations. The scope of this standard includes the complete data processing, from the initial concentration measurement up to the generation of an emission report over a reporting period (which is generally one year) ).
This standard does not prescribe the number of potential emission points that should be screened each year nor the frequency at which these points should be screened. This sampling strategy shall indeed take into account the plant characteristics and the required level of control over fugitive emissions.
Optical methods are currently under development to ease the detection of leaks in plants and use of this standard in conjunction with these methods might be possible. In any case, measurements have to be performed according to the requirements of this standard. To enable direct quantification of total fugitive emissions based only on these methods, a subsequent revision of this standard will be needed.

This standard specifies a Reverse Dispersion Modelling method to qualify the fugitive emission rates of diffuse fine and coarse dust sources of industrial plants or areas. The application needs calculations using a dispersion model, and the definition of a sampling experimental set-up taking into account field data such as number, height and width of diffuse dust sources, sampling distances, and meteorological information.
The RDM method does not allow quantification in absolute figures of the dust emission rates because of an undetermined accuracy depending on various site conditions, but it is a tool which enables each industrial plant to identify its dust sources that emit the most, and then to implement actions reducing their importance by self-control and related improvement process as part of environmental management.
In this framework, the RDM method should not be used to control or verify any compliance with air quality threshold global values which might be contained in an operating permit, or to carry out comparison between different plants belonging to the same industrial sector.