Neste Oil is building a system for recovering emissions released when loading ships at the harbor of its Porvoo refinery. The system, valued at approx. EUR 23 million, will recover the majority of the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) released into the atmosphere when loading gasoline.

The new facility will reduce the refinery's overall hydrocarbon emissions significantly as gasoline loading at the refinery's harbor are the site's single largest source of VOC emissions. The latter form ozone in the lower atmosphere when they react with NOx in the presence of sunlight. Ozone is harmful to people, flora, and fauna.

"Thanks to the new system, we will be able to further reduce our environment footprint and also ensure that harbor personnel benefit from a cleaner working environment," says Niko Ristikankare, Neste Oil's Vice President, Shipping and Terminals.

The new system will reabsorb VOCs into gasoline during loading with the help of two absorption tanks and related equipment at the harbor, after which the gasoline used will be returned to the refinery for re-use. A similar system is already in use when loading tanker trucks at the Porvoo refinery's distribution terminal.

Construction work on the VOC recovery system began in October and the facility is due to be commissioned in the latter half of 2013

To see the Porvoo refinery site