Odds and Ends, Archive 2
Random Factoids
Odds and Ends, No. 2
This page is intended to be a dynamic page dedicated to 'stream-of-consciousness' thoughts and musings that may or may not be relevant to environmental issues in the oil and gas industry. This second installment consists of a random set of technically oriented 'trivia' questions. Test yourself and see if you agree with my answers by following the link located at the bottom of this page.
1.) What are the three most common sizes of API-standard atmospheric storage tanks found in the upstream oil business? Dimensions (diameter and height) and volumes, please.
2.) What did the 33rd President of the United States have in common with the SI unit of absolute temperature?
3.) There's been a lot of publicity surrounding the $800 billion stimulus package. Do you know what 800 billion looks like? Which of the following most closely describes 800 billion?
A - The number of dollar bills it would take, laid lengthwise, to reach from the earth to the moon.
B - The number of sand grains on Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia
C - The number of dry peas it would take to fill Invesco Field at Mile High
Grisly Addams and Unit Costs
Finally, for your consideration - an industry specific word problem inspired by real events. The details have been changed to protect the innocent.
A regulator from an un-named mountain state calls from Cheyenne and asks (Mean) Joe Greene, the Environmental Manager for Pilsner Oil Company, to stack test the uncontrolled emissions from the regenerator still stack on a glycol dehydrator in Siberia County for all of the BTEX compounds. Joe gets the testing protocol approved and schedules the stack test. After a couple of false starts due to weather and equipment calibration problems, the test is finally conducted and Joe is relieved when the results come back and the emissions are well below regulatory thresholds (specifically the Area Source MACT for benzene).
Joe delivers the results to his Operations Manager, Grisly Addams, and waits for the expected, "Well done, Joe."
However, much to Joe's chagrin, Grisley studies the data (and the invoices) and then blows like a head gasket. "What in the #&!!@#!#&XX@$ is this? I spent $12,488 to find BTEX and all we come up with is this piddly little amount? How much is this in dollars / pound?"
Joe figures there are two ways to look at it, he can calculate the unit cost ($/lb) of just the BTEX captured in the sampling event or he can use the total amount of BTEX emitted during the three-1 hour test runs to figure the unit cost. Six samples were collected (2 per test run) in 5-liter Tedlar bags each filled to 80% of capacity at 41 F and ambient pressure (12.5 psia at elevation). The data (average for all three runs) --
Temperature of stack flow - 41 F
Pressure of stack flow - 15.5 psia
Measured flow rate - 120 acfm
Benzene (MW - 78.12) - 30 ppm (vol)
Toluene (MW - 92.15) - 5 ppm (vol)
Ethylbenzene (MW - 106.17) - 2 ppm (vol)
Xylenes - (MW - 106.17) - 15 ppm (vol)
Balance of vent stream consists of mixed hydrocarbons, nitrogen, and oxygen with an average MW of 31.3
What are the answers to Grisley's question on the basis of total mass of BTEX sampled and total mass of BTEX emitted during the three-1 hour test runs?
For my answers to the these questions and problems - click here.