Every year, millions of tons of hydrocarbons are lost due to evaporation during storage and transportation of oil and petroleum products. According to experts, about 50-90 million tons of hydrocarbons are emitted into the atmosphere, with a significant portion of the losses occurring at oil refining and oil and gas production enterprises. Such emissions not only negatively affect the environment, but also lead to significant economic losses. The fight against emissions of oil vapors, gasoline and other volatile fractions is becoming a priority for companies in the oil and gas sector.
What is a VRU system?
Vapor Recovery Unit (VRU) systems are designed to remove hydrocarbon vapors generated in sealed tanks during storage of oil and petroleum products. These systems not only minimize emissions, but also allow valuable hydrocarbons to be returned back into the production cycle.
How does a VRU system work?
The vapor recovery process includes several stages:
- A screw gas compressor sucks hydrocarbon vapors from the tank into a scrubber.
- The scrubber cleans the gas mixture by removing water vapor, debris, and unwanted liquids.
- Gas regeneration: the purified hydrocarbon vapors are pumped into gas pipelines, and the captured liquid is returned to the pipelines.
This process can significantly reduce hydrocarbon losses and reduce emissions into the atmosphere.
Vapor recovery technologies
Modern VRU systems use various approaches to capture and process vapors:
- Cold liquid absorption — using liquids to absorb hydrocarbon vapors at low temperatures.
- Vacuum-regenerated carbon absorption — using carbon filters that are regenerated under vacuum.
- Membrane separation — using membranes to separate hydrocarbon vapors from other gases.
- Direct condensation — cooling vapors to a liquid state.
Economic and environmental benefits
Vapor recovery is not only an environmental necessity, but also a profitable economic solution. For example, at oil depots, losses from gasoline and gas condensate evaporation are tens of times higher than losses from diesel fuel or kerosene. VRU installations allow valuable resources to be returned to production, reducing company costs and minimizing harm to the environment.
VRU application in practice
Such installations are especially effective at oil and gas facilities — oil and oil product warehouses, terminals, and gas stations. Investments in recovery systems quickly pay off due to reduced losses and improved environmental reputation of the company.
Vapor recovery is a step towards sustainable development and economic efficiency. In the context of tightening environmental standards and rising resource prices, the introduction of VRU is becoming a necessity for modern enterprises.