The new specialised filter, tailor-made in Europe for the Geelong refinery, is being installed during a routine maintenance shutdown that began on 30 April 2007 and will take about 60 days to complete. Huck Poh, General Manager, Shell Geelong Refinery, said that the upgrade is part of the refinery's ongoing commitment to improving environmental performance. "Following the installation of the filter, residents of Geelong should notice a reduction in visible emissions from the cracker stack," said Huck. "Shell is committed to Geelong and this is evidenced by its spending of $130 million on major environmental improvement projects." EPA Executive Director Regional Services, Bruce Dawson, said EPA Victoria looks forward to this substantial investment being installed and becoming operational over the next couple of months. “This equipment is required by EPA's licence and will significantly reduce emissions of particles from the refinery,” said Bruce. Facts about the filter: - The filter is 16 metres high, has six levels and weighs 220 tonnes
- It is very specialised and had to be tailor-made in Belgium
- The filter required up to 100 contractors and took more than 100 days to be assembled.
- The filter works by passing gas through 250 filter elements and has its own automated cleaning system
- A 600-tonne crane is required to lift the filter on to the cracker
|
