China Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) recently published a national standard named Emission Standard of Petroleum Refining Industry (GB 31570-2015) which raises the concentration limits and supervision standards of waste water and gas emission for the petroleum industry.
This standard will function as the fundamental pollutant emission requirements for the petroleum refining industry. Local authorities at a provincial level are allowed to demand more detailed requirements referencing this document. The standard will replace three current national standards, which are:
Comprehensive emission standard of waste water (GB 8978-1996)
Comprehensive emission standard of gaseous pollutant (GB 16297-1996)
Emission standard of gaseous pollutant of industrial furnace (GB9078-1996)
The standard specifies the concentration limit of following 25 items in waste water emission:
pH value
Suspended solids
Chemical oxygen demand (COD)
Biochemical oxygen demand in 5 days (BOD)
Nitrogen in ammonia
Total nitrogen
Total phosphorous
Total organic carbon
Petroleum
Sulfide
Volatile phenol
Total vanadium
Benzene
Methylbenzene
O-xylene
M-xylene
P-xylene
Ethylbenzene
Total cyanide
Benzopyrene
Total lead
Total arsenic
Total nickel
Total mercury
Alkyl mercury
And following 12 items in waste gas emission:
Particulate matter (PM)
Nickel and its compound
Sulfur dioxide
Nitric oxide
Sulfuric acid mist
Hydrogen chloride
Asphalt fume
Benzopyrene
Benzene
Methylbenzene
Xylene
Total hydrocarbon except methane
The standard will enter into effect from Jul 1st 2015. All newly established factories have to obey the standard. Existing factories have a two years’ grace period to improve current production lines and comply with the standard till Jul 1st 2017.
