Cement Americas provides comprehensive coverage of the North and South American cement markets from raw material extraction to delivery and tranportation to end user.
Issue link: https://cement.epubxp.com/i/379405
www.cementamericas.com • Fall 2014 • CEMENT AMERICAS FEATURE DRIVING INNOVATION 17 stack gas anomaly and a process error, saving hundreds of thousands of dollars. It's unlikely that insight would surface without the rigorous analysis of data. Surfacing insights from data is certainly part of a monitoring instrument manufac- turer's responsibility to the customer. We've worked – and continue to work – closely with EPA to not only understand the requirements of new regulations, such as those that take effect in September 2015, but also to design instruments that provide insights that extend beyond com- pliance. Instruments are a means to generate data and, if designed properly, those same data have real value in making production more efficient and profitable. But this can only happen if the data are used effectively as part of ongoing pro- duction process review, and not just for reporting. MONITORING AROUND THE WORLD The EPA is often a model for other countries looking to design environ- mental regulations. China's Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP), for ex- ample, has worked closely with EPA for decades. Given China's influence in ce- ment production – it produced more than half the total global output of ce- ment in 2013 – the entire industry should follow its policy-making with in- In response to a federal court deci- sion, petitions for reconsideration and technical information received after final rules were issued in 2010, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized amendments to the agency's air toxics rules for portland cement manufacturing. The amended rule will maintain dramatic reductions of mercury, acid gases, particulate matter and total hydrocarbons from existing cement kilns across the coun- try, while ensuring that emissions from new kilns remain low. • The final amendments apply to two air emissions rules for the Portland cement industry: air toxics stan- dards and new source performance standards. The final air toxics rule retains emission limits for mercury, acid gases and total hydrocarbons from the 2010 rules, along with re- taining requirements that kilns con- tinuously monitor compliance with limits for mercury, total hydrocar- bons and particulate matter (PM). • The air toxics rule also adjusts the way cement kilns continuously mon- itor PM emissions, and adjusts emis- sions limits for PM and organic air toxics. Existing kilns must comply with the standards by Sept. 9, 2015, and if needed, may request an ad- ditional year. EPA is making con- forming changes to the PM limits in the New Source Performance Stan- dards (NSPS) for new cement kilns. • The rule is expected to significantly reduce pollution from Portland ce- ment manufacturing over 2010 lev- els when fully implemented, cutting emissions of mercury by 93 percent, hydrochloric acid by 96 percent, PM by 91 percent, and total hydrocar- bons by 82 percent. • The revised rule will maintain im- portant health benefits associated with reducing mercury, acid gases and particulate matter while reduc- ing the cost of compliance. EPA es- timates that cement kilns will have to spend $52 million less to imple- ment requirements in the revised rule than the 2010 rule. In developing the emissions limits for the air toxics rule, EPA excluded data from cement kilns that burn non-haz- ardous solid waste. Those kilns are subject to another rule, the emission standards for Commercial/Industrial Solid Waste Incinerators. Requirements in the final rules: • The final rules change the monitor- ing method that facilities use to demonstrate compliance with emis- sions limits for PM, and make change to the PM emission limits that are necessary as a result. • EPA made these changes based on new real-world technical information that indicated PM emissions could not be reliably measured using the monitoring requirements EPA had required in the 2010 rule. • The revised monitoring method re- quires kilns to monitor continuously to demonstrate compliance with the PM limits. The amendments also: • Change the compliance date for ex- isting kilns under the air toxics stan- dards to Sept. 9, 2015. Facilities may request an additional year, if needed. EPA is changing the com- pliance date because the rule revi- sions make it necessary for the cement industry to reassess its emission control strategies. • Some facilities are expected to choose different emission controls to meet the revised requirements. • Allow better-performing kilns greater flexibility in meeting the daily operating limits that facilities use to demonstrate continuous compliance. This flexibility applies only to those facilities with PM or or- ganic air toxic emissions that remain below 75 percent of the emission limits in the final rule. • Treat coal mills that use kiln exhaust as a part of the cement kiln. This means emissions from coal mills are included when determining if a kiln is meeting emission limits. • Revise the open clinker pile standards from the 2010 final rule by allowing facilities to choose from a list of work practices to control fugitive emis- sions. The work practices would apply to any open clinker piles, regardless of the quantity of clinker or the length of time that the clinker pile exists. Fa- cilities must meet the clinker pile standards within one year after the final rule is published in the Federal Register. Accidental spills of clinker, which are not considered open clinker piles, must be cleaned up within three days. • Change the alternative emission limit for organic air toxics; kilns may meet this limit in lieu of meeting a limit for total hydrocarbons. Source: EPA FINAL AMENDMENTS TO AIR TOXICS STANDARDS FOR PORTLAND CEMENT MANUFACTURING