Quote:
Originally Posted by scottmandue
I have done work at a few refineries... at the end of the day you go home smelling kinda different.   |
How long ago?
In the 80's and 90's that was pretty much spot on.
There was a time when I had to change clothes in the garage and then take two showers before the wife would let me into the rest of the house, and I had to buy a new pillow once a month because there was no way to get that smell out of my hair. But things have changed.
Workers in california refineries today usually don't get "any on them" and they all have to wear nomex that they change out of before they leave.
Equipment is cleaned much better than it used to be prior to turning over to maintenance, and workers are given tyvek suits to go over their nomex and other types of PPE that keeps most of the nasty stuff off them.
There was also a time when you could find a refinery by following the smell, but they don't stink anymore. Can't. If they did they'd be shut down in a heatbeat.
we spend tens of millions per year just on preventing tiny fugitive emmissions, things like invisible leaks at pipe threads, leaks too small to see, etc.
Anything over 500 parts per million requires immediate remediation and we have over a million specific points that are carelully measured ad documented quarterly with very so-fist-icated equipment run by 250 contractors day in and day out.
It all adds up and makes them cleaner than the olden days.