CHAPTER FIVE

ASSOCIATED ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS

5.1

INTRODUCTION

The overview on the amounts of waste generated within the refining processes are
summarized on Table 5.1.

Table 5.1 Summary of the wastes to be generated during the refining process
at the ile-ife plant.

5.2

AIR POLLUTION
Most processes to be performed in the refinery will produce atmospheric emissions.

Speculation concerning the amounts and types of air pollutants emitted from refinery
operations has been widespread. Air pollution is the most difficult type of pollution to
sample, test, and quantify in an audit.
There are four main sources of air emissions from the Refinery, most of
which emit similar types of waste gases:
1. Flares
The Refinerys two flares provide a safe pressure relief system in case of process upsets. In
the event of an incident at the Refinery, excess gas can be safely diverted to the flares,
protecting staff and equipment. Each flare has a continuous flame that safely combusts the
gases into carbon dioxide and water.
2. Furnaces
The refining process requires a precise balance between pressure and temperature, both of
which are supplied by furnaces. Fuel gas is produced as a supplementary product of refining
and the Refinery uses this fuel for energy for the furnaces which heat the hydrocarbons as
they flow through the refining units.
3. Residue Cracking Unit
The Residue Cracking Unit (RCU) is one of the most important process units at the Refinery
because it can process the heavy, low-value component of the crude oil. The RCU cracks
the long chains of hydrocarbons into smaller compounds of greater value.
4. Sulphur Recovery Units
The Refinery has two Sulphur Recovery Units (SRUs) that remove hydrogen sulphide (H 2S)
from the refinerys fuel gas before the gas is burned in the furnaces. As well as reducing SO 2
emissions, the H2S is converted into liquid sulphur which is on-sold for use in industrial
processes and to manufacture agricultural fertilisers.

Refinery plants usually generate nitrogen oxides and sulphur oxides from flaring.
Other significant sources of air emissions in oil refining operations include Volatile Organic
Compounds, particulates emissions from Residue Cracking Unit (RCU). These processes can
emit carbon monoxide, acids, and other volatile compounds.
The major sources of air pollution in the oil refinery plant are summarized on Table
5.2.

Table 5.2 Summary of the Air pollution sources and wastes to be generated
during oil Refining in Ile- Ife Refinery Plant.

5.3

WATER POLLUTION
The Ile- Ife oil refining unit is expected to use high volume of water throughout its

operations, from adding heat to the processes (steam), removing heat from the process
(cooling water), removing salt and impurities from crude, protecting equipment from
corrosion, generation of hydrogen (used to remove sulphur from motor fuels), equipment
cleaning and maintenance. The large amount of waste water generated also contain a wide
variety of chemicals, used throughout processing. These can cause damage if not properly
treated before discharge to the environment. As inappropriate discharge of this waste water
and residues could lead to contamination of water sources
The aquatic toxicity of the refinery wastewater varies considerably among production
facilities. The sources of aquatic toxicity can include salt, surfactants, ionic metals and their
metal complexes, toxic organic chemicals, biocides and toxic anions.

5.4

SOLID WASTE POLLUTION

The current environmental concerns have forced developed and developing countries

to reduce air, water and land pollution for sustainable growth. Solid refinery waste is cocktail
of hydrocarbons, water, oil mud, waste organic solvents, heavy metal and fine solids and is
substantial in quantity. The principal processes of waste management focus mainly on waste
source reduction, reusing, recycling, composting, incineration with or without energy
recovery, fuel production and land filling. Waste minimization can be achieved by
elimination of solid and hazardous waste generation through changes in product design and
manufacturing technology.

5.5

IMPACT OF THE MAJOR PROCESS CHEMICALS ON HUMAN HEALTH

The effects of the exposures to chemical substances, dust-laden and noise are

discussed further.
5.5.1

5.5.2

CHEMICAL SUBSTANCES

DUST AND FUMES

It has been general practice to discharge dust-laden air from stage 1 of the refinery

setup, to the atmosphere. Volatile organic emissions are largely uncontrolled and are used in
refining operations.
A summary of some of the most common dust and fumes and their effect on human
health is presented in table 5.5.

Table 5.5 The impact of dust and fumes on human health.

5.5.3

NOISE
The response of the human ear to sound depends both on the sound frequency

(measured in Hertz, Hz) and the sound pressure, measured in decibels (dB). A normal ear in a
healthy young person can detect sounds with frequencies from 20 Hz to 20 000 Hz. Speech
frequency ranges from 100 to 6000 Hz.
Noise can cause hearing impairment, interfere with communication, disturb sleep, cause
cardiovascular and psycho-physiological effects, reduce performance, and provoke
annoyance responses and changes in social behaviour. The many and varied sources of noise
in industrial machinery and processes include: rotors, gears, turbulent fluid flow, impact
processes, electrical machines, internal combustion engines, pneumatic equipment, drilling,
crushing, blasting, pumps and compressors. Furthermore, the emitted sounds are reflected
from floors, ceiling and equipment. Noise is a common occupational hazard in many
workplaces.

5.6

Impact Quantification and Determination of Significant Impacts

The identified, associated and potential impacts of the proposed Ile- Ife oil refining
Plant were quantified using the Risk Assessment Matrix and the ISO 14001 Procedure for
evaluation and registration of Environmental Aspects and identifying significant
environmental aspects/impacts.
Criteria and Ratings for Identifying Significant Environmental Impacts of the project
are as follows:

Legal / Regulatory Requirements (L) is there a legal/regulatory requirement or a

permit requirement?
0 = There is no legal/regulatory requirement
3 = There is a legal/regulatory requirement
5 = There is a permit required

Risk (R) What is risk/hazard rating based on Risk Assessment Matrix (RAM) (Table
5.6)

1= Low risk
3 = Medium/intermediate risk
5 = High risk

Environmental Impact Frequency (F) What is frequency rating of impact based on

RAM?

1 = Low frequency
3 = Medium / intermediate frequency
5 = High frequency

Importance of Affected Environmental Component and Impact (I) What is the rating
of importance based on consensus of opinions?

1 = Low importance
3 = Medium/intermediate importance
5 = High importance

Public Perception (P) What is the rating of public perception and interest in
proposed project and impacts based on consultation with stakeholders?

1 = Low perception and interest

3 = Medium/intermediate perception and interest
5 = High perception and interest

The significant potential impacts of the proposed project were identified as those
impacts in the checklist that satisfy the following criteria.
I.

(L+R+F+I+P) _>15: Sum of weight of legal requirements, Risk factor, frequency of

occurrence, importance and public perception greater than or equal to the benchmark
(15).

II.

(F+I) is >6: Sum of weight of frequency of occurrence and importance of affected

environmental component exceeds the benchmark (6).

III.

P=5: The weight of the public perception/interest in the potential impact exceeds the
benchmark (5).

Table 5.6: Risk Assessment Matrix for Environmental Consequences

5.7

Environmental Assessment

5.7.1

Land Acquisition
During the design/planning stage, land acquisition would be planned for. Land

acquisition entails loss of farmland by the indigenous farmers who use the land to cultivate
various crops such as cassava and maize. However, if adequate compensation is paid, it
would improve the personal income of landlords/indigenes. The impact is significant,
irreversible and of long-term effect.
5.7.2

Site Preparation
Site preparation shall involve removal of limited amount of vegetation to provide path

for survey. The removal of wildlife habitat (vegetation) will lead to temporal migration of
wildlife. The effect is not significant in the short term since the survey routes would be revegetated naturally.
Bush clearing activities during site preparation shall involve the removal of the
vegetation, which would lead to exposure of the soil to adverse weather conditions. The
width of the plant ROW shall be one kilometre. The removal of the vegetation shall lead to
migration of wildlife from the area. The effect is significant; irreversible (since the ROW
shall be maintained at a low height), and permanent until the life span of the project (> 25
years).
5.7.3

Waste Disposal

A number of waste types shall be produced during the construction and operational
phases of the project. These include metal scraps, gaskets, lubricant filters, domestic waste
associated with base camp etc. Improper waste disposal would lead to loss of aesthetics, risk
of accidents by sharp objects/scrap piles, and contamination of soil and water bodies (through
run-offs). The effects of improper waste disposal are significant, can be reversed and are of
short term.
5.8

Abandonment
When the use of the plant is no longer required, it would be decommissioned and

abandoned. The abandonment process involves removal of all surface facilities.

Technical Report Writing Group shall maintain a record of the abandoned facility and
a copy will be given to the Osun State Environmental Management Board), FMENV,
communities, and other stakeholders. The impact from abandonment programme is
significant, long term and restores the environment to its original form as much as possible.
The effects are significant positive and long term.