Best Available Techniques (BAT) Reference Document for the Production of Chlor-alkali Industrial Emissions Directive 2010/75/EU (Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control) Thomas Brinkmann, Germán Giner Santonja, Frauke Schorcht, Serge Roudier, Luis Delgado Sancho 201 4 Report EUR 26844 EN European Commission Joint Research Centre Institute for Prospective Technological Studies Contact information European IPPC Bureau Address: Joint Research Centre, Edificio Expo c/ Inca Garcilaso 3, E-41092 Seville, Spain E-mail: [email protected] Tel.: +34 95 4488 284 Fax: +34 95 4488 426 http://eippcb.jrc.ec.europa.eu https://ec.europa.eu/jrc/en/institutes/ipts Legal Notice Under the Commission Decision of 12 December 2011 on the Re-use of Commission Documents (2011/833/EU), the present BREF document is subject to free re-use, except for parts covered by any third-party rights which may be present in the document (such as images, tables, data, written material, or similar, the rights to which need to be acquired separately from their respective rights-holders for further use). The European Commission is not liable for any consequence stemming from the re-use of this publication. Any re-use is subject to the acknowledgement of the source and non-distortion of the original meaning or message All images © European Union 2014, except: Cover pictures credits, from left to right: 1. Mercury: © fotolia.com - marcel; 2. Salt crystals: © fotolia.com - angelo.gi; 3. Water splash: © fotolia.com - Chepko Danil; 4. Chlorine: © Benjah-bmm27 – commons.wikimedia.org; 6. High voltage: © fotolia.com - carloscastilla. JRC91156 EUR 26844 EN ISBN 978-92-79-40945-5 (PDF) ISSN 1831-9424 (online) doi:10.2791/13138 Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2014 © European Union, 2014 Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged. Abstract The BAT reference document entitled ‘Production of Chlor-alkali’ forms part of a series presenting the results of an exchange of information between EU Member States, the industries concerned, non-governmental organisations promoting environmental protection, and the Commission, to draw up, review and, where necessary, update BAT reference documents as required by Article 13(1) of the Directive 2010/75/EU on industrial emissions. This document is published by the European Commission pursuant to Article 13(6) of the Directive. This BREF for the production of chlor-alkali covers certain industrial activities specified in Sections 4.2(a) and 4.2(c) of Annex I to Directive 2010/75/EU, namely the production of chlor-alkali chemicals (chlorine, hydrogen, potassium hydroxide and sodium hydroxide) by the electrolysis of brine. In particular, this document covers the following processes and activities: - the storage of salt; - the preparation, purification and resaturation of brine; - the electrolysis of brine; - the concentration, purification, storage and handling of sodium/potassium hydroxide; - the cooling, drying, purification, compression, liquefaction, storage and handling of chlorine; - the cooling, purification, compression, storage and handling of hydrogen; - the conversion of mercury cell plants to membrane cell plants; - the decommissioning of mercury cell plants; - the remediation of chlor-alkali production sites. Important issues for the implementation of Directive 2010/75/EU in the chlor-alkali industry are the conversion and decommissioning of mercury cell plants, the conversion of asbestos diaphragm cell plants and the use of non-asbestos diaphragms, electricity consumption, and emissions of chlorine to air and water. The BREF contains seven chapters. Chapters 1 and 2 provide general information on the chlor-alkali industry and on the industrial processes and techniques used within this sector. Chapter 3 provides data and information concerning the environmental performance of installations in terms of current emissions, consumption of raw materials, water and energy, and generation of waste. Chapter 4 describes the techniques to prevent or reduce the environmental impact of installations in the sector. In Chapter 5 the BAT conclusions, as defined in Article 3(12) of the Directive, are presented for the chlor-alkali industry. Chapters 6 and 7 are dedicated to emerging techniques as well as to concluding remarks and recommendations for future work in the sector, respectively. Best Available Techniques (BAT) Reference Document for the Production of Chlor-alkali Industrial Emissions Directive 2010/75/EU Integrated Pollution Prevention and control Authors: Thomas Brinkmann Germán Giner Santonja Frauke Schorcht Serge Roudier Luis Delgado Sancho 2014 EUR 26844 EN Acknowledgements This report was produced by the European Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control Bureau (EIPPCB) at the European Commission's Joint Research Centre – Institute for Prospective Technological Studies (IPTS) under the supervision of Serge Roudier (Head of the EIPPCB) and Luis Delgado Sancho (Head of the Sustainable Production and Consumption Unit). The authors of this BREF were Mr Thomas Brinkmann, Mr Germán Giner Santonja, and Ms Frauke Schorcht. This project report was drawn up in the framework of the implementation of the Industrial Emissions Directive (2010/75/EU) and is the result of the exchange of information provided for in Article 13 of the Directive. Major contributors of information were Euro Chlor, the European association of chlorine producers, the European Environmental Bureau (EEB) representing the environmental NGOs, and some EU Member States, mostly Austria, France, the Netherlands, Spain, and the United Kingdom, but also Belgium, the Czech Republic, Germany, Ireland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia. The whole EIPPCB team provided contributions and peer reviewing. This document is one from the series of foreseen documents listed below (at the time of writing, not all documents have been drafted): Reference Document on Best Available Techniques Code Ceramic Manufacturing Industry CER Common Waste Water and Waste Gas Treatment/Management Systems in the Chemical CWW Sector Emissions from Storage EFS Energy Efficiency ENE Ferrous Metals Processing Industry FMP Food, Drink and Milk Industries FDM Industrial Cooling Systems ICS Intensive Rearing of Poultry and Pigs IRPP Iron and Steel Production IS Large Combustion Plants LCP Large Volume Inorganic Chemicals – Ammonia, Acids and Fertilisers LVIC-AAF Large Volume Inorganic Chemicals – Solids and Others Industry LVIC-S Large Volume Organic Chemical Industry LVOC Management of Tailings and Waste-rock in Mining Activities MTWR Manufacture of Glass GLS Manufacture of Organic Fine Chemicals OFC Non-ferrous Metals Industries NFM Production of Cement, Lime and Magnesium Oxide CLM Production of Chlor-alkali CAK Production of Polymers POL Production of Pulp, Paper and Board PP Production of Speciality Inorganic Chemicals SIC Refining of Mineral Oil and Gas REF Slaughterhouses and Animals By-products Industries SA Smitheries and Foundries Industry SF Surface Treatment of Metals and Plastics STM Surface Treatment Using Organic Solvents STS Tanning of Hides and Skins TAN Textiles Industry TXT Waste Incineration WI Waste Treatments Industries WT Wood and Wood Products Preservation with Chemicals WPC Wood-based Panels Production WBP Reference Document Economics and Cross-media Effects ECM General Principles of Monitoring MON Electronic versions of draft and finalised documents are publicly available and can be downloaded from http://eippcb.jrc.ec.europa.eu. Preface PREFACE 1. Status of this document Unless otherwise stated, references to 'the Directive' in this document refer to Directive 2010/75/EU of the European Parliament and the Council on industrial emissions (integrated pollution prevention and control) (Recast). The original best available techniques (BAT) reference document (BREF) on Production of Chlor-alkali was adopted by the European Commission in 2001. This document is the result of a review of that BREF. The review commenced in March 2009. This BAT reference document for the Production of Chlor-alkali forms part of a series presenting the results of an exchange of information between EU Member States, the industries concerned, non-governmental organisations promoting environmental protection and the Commission, to draw up, review, and where necessary, update BAT reference documents as required by Article 13(1) of the Directive. This document is published by the European Commission pursuant to Article 13(6) of the Directive. As set out in Article 13(5) of the Directive, the Commission Implementing Decision 2013/732/EU on the BAT conclusions contained in Chapter 5 was adopted on 9 December 2013 and published on 11 December 20131. 2. Participants in the information exchange As required in Article 13(3) of the Directive, the Commission has established a forum to promote the exchange of information, which is composed of representatives from Member States, the industries concerned and non-governmental organisations promoting environmental protection (Commission Decision of 16 May 2011 establishing a forum for the exchange of information pursuant to Article 13 of the Directive 2010/75/EU on industrial emissions (2011/C 146/03), OJ C 146, 17.05.2011, p. 3). Forum members have nominated technical experts constituting the technical working group (TWG) that was the main source of information for drafting this document. The work of the TWG was led by the European IPPC Bureau (of the Commission's Joint Research Centre). 3. Structure and contents