Large Volume Organic Chemicals.doc

Executive summary The Large Volume Organic Chemicals (LVOC) BREF (Best Available Techniques reference document) reflects an information exchange carried out under Article 16(2) of Council Directive 96/61/EC. This Executive Summary - which is intended to be read in conjunction with both the standard introduction to the BAT chapters and the BREF Preface’s explanations of objectives, usage and legal terms - describes the main findings, the principal BAT conclusions and the associated emission / consumption levels. It can be read and understood as a stand-alone document but, as a summary, it does not present all the complexities of the full BREF text. It is therefore not intended as a substitute for the full BREF text as a tool in BAT decision making. Document scope and organisation: For the purposes of BAT information exchange the organic chemical industry has been divided into sectors for ‘Large Volume Organic Chemicals’, ‘Polymers’ and ‘Fine Organic Chemicals’. The IPPC directive does not use the term ‘Large Volume Organic Chemicals’ and so offers no assistance in its definition. The TWG interpretation, however, is that it covers those activities in sections 4.1(a) to 4.1(g) of Annex 1 to the Directive with a production rate of more than 100 kt/yr. In Europe, some 90 organic chemicals meet these criteria. It has not been possible to carry out a detailed information exchange on every LVOC process because the scope of LVOC is so large. The BREF therefore contains a mixture of generic and detailed information on LVOC processes: Generic information: LVOC applied processes are described both in terms of widely used unit processes, unit operations and infrastructure (Chapter 2), and also using brief descriptions of the main LVOC processes (Chapter 3). Chapter 4 gives the generic origins, and possible composition, of LVOC emissions and Chapter 5 outlines the available emission prevention and control techniques. Chapter 6 concludes by identifying those techniques