The plant, which went into operation at the end of June 2008, is a volatile organic compound (VOC) plant. It captures VOCs in oil vapors which are released when crude oil tankers are loaded. The gas is purified and piped back into the hold as oil components in liquid form.
The decision to build the plant at Mongstad was taken in 2006. In the run-up to the opening, nearly 600,000 man-hours were spent by StatoilHydro’s project team, contractors and engineering partners.
Tor Frostestad, Mongstad’s terminal manager, said: Oil vapor capture and recovery is a type of measure that serves well to support StatoilHydro’s environmental ambitions. The VOC plant at Mongstad recovers at least 80% of the VOC emissions that were previously released into the air.
