China's Hebei Province Issues Stricter Emission Limits amid its War against Smog
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China's biggest steelmaking province Hebei's Department of Ecology and Environment has released the latest "Ultra-Low Emission Standards for Air pollutants of the Iron and Steel Industry" to replace the previous "Emission Standards of 2015".
The new limits
The new standard stipulates the air pollutant emission limit, measuring and monitoring requirements of the iron and steel industry or production facilities in Hebei province, as well as the implementation and supervision of the standard. At the same time, it made clear that the "Iron and Steel Industry" mainly includes production processes such as sintering (pellet), blast furnace iron making, steel making, and steel rolling.
The new standards mentioned are more stringent than the current state limits as Particulate matter emissions will need to be kept within 10 micrograms per cubic metre (state limit 40 micrograms per cubic meters), sulphur dioxide within 35 micrograms (state limit 180 micrograms) and nitrogen oxides within 50 micrograms (state limit 300 micrograms), according to the document.
Upon whom it is being implemented?
In the policy document, the provincial environmental protection agency said that the 'newly built' steel producers would be forced to comply with "ultra-low" emissions restrictions starting from 1 January 2019, while 'existing firms' would be given until October 2020 to meet the new standards.
It made it clear that 'new enterprise' is newly incorporated, renovated or expanded enterprise or facility approved through the environmental impact assessment document from the date of implementation of the standard; whereas 'existing enterprise' is production unit or facility that have completed construction and put into operation or passed the environmental impact assessment before the date of implementation of this standard.
Standards for unorganized emissions
At the same time, for unorganized emissions, the new standards require that the storage of raw materials like iron fines, fuels such as coal, coke powders, as well as ancillary materials like limestone etc should be done in closed yards (silo, sheds, warehouses), and dust-control measures such as spraying and cleaning etc should be carried out as well as equipping with cleaning facilities for wheels and vehicle body at exit of the site.
Dust prone points during loading, processing, storing and transporting as well as points generating air pollutants such as tapping hole, main runner, trough and skip etc in cast house, and sintering (pellet) equipment, gas collection system and a centralized purification treatment device shall be installed, and the purified gas shall be discharged by the exhaust pipe.
Hebei- the steel hub
Hebei province, which surrounds the capital Beijing, is routinely the location of six of China's 10 smoggiest cities and has been on the front line of the country's war on pollution, now in its fifth year. As part of the campaign, it has shut down or suspended millions of tonnes of steel and cement production capacity, curbed coal consumption and imposed restrictions on traffic. It has also set up reward and punishment mechanisms to encourage local governments to comply.
