§ 60.485b - Test methods and procedures.

§ 60.485b Test methods and procedures.

(a) In conducting the performance tests required in § 60.8, the owner or operator shall use as reference methods and procedures the test methods in appendix A to this part or other methods and procedures as specified in this section, except as provided in § 60.8(b).

(b) The owner or operator shall determine compliance with the standards in §§ 60.482-1b through 60.482-11b, 60.483a, and 60.484b as follows:

(1) Method 21 of appendix A-7 to this part shall be used to determine the presence of leaking sources. The instrument shall be calibrated before use each day of its use by the procedures specified in Method 21. The following calibration gases shall be used:

(i) Zero air (less than 10 ppm of hydrocarbon in air); and

(ii) A mixture of methane or n-hexane and air at a concentration no more than 2,000 ppm greater than the leak definition concentration of the equipment monitored. If the monitoring instrument's design allows for multiple calibration scales, then the lower scale shall be calibrated with a calibration gas that is no higher than 2,000 ppm above the concentration specified as a leak, and the highest scale shall be calibrated with a calibration gas that is approximately equal to 10,000 ppm. If only one scale on an instrument will be used during monitoring, the owner or operator need not calibrate the scales that will not be used during that day's monitoring.

(2) A calibration drift assessment shall be performed, at a minimum, at the end of each monitoring day. Check the instrument using the same calibration gas(es) that were used to calibrate the instrument before use. Follow the procedures specified in Method 21 of appendix A-7 to this part, section 10.1, except do not adjust the meter readout to correspond to the calibration gas value. Record the instrument reading for each scale used as specified in § 60.486b(e)(8). Divide the arithmetic difference of the initial and post-test calibration response by the corresponding calibration gas value for each scale and multiply by 100 to express the calibration drift as a percentage.

(i) If a calibration drift assessment shows a negative drift of more than 10 percent, then all equipment with instrument readings between the appropriate leak definition and the leak definition multiplied by (100 minus the percent of negative drift/divided by 100) that was monitored since the last calibration must be re-monitored.

(ii) If any calibration drift assessment shows a positive drift of more than 10 percent from the initial calibration value, then, at the owner/operator's discretion, all equipment with instrument readings above the appropriate leak definition and below the leak definition multiplied by (100 plus the percent of positive drift/divided by 100) monitored since the last calibration may be re-monitored.

(c) The owner or operator shall determine compliance with the no-detectable-emission standards in §§ 60.482-2b(e), 60.482-3b(i), 60.482-4b, 60.482-7b(f), and 60.482-10b(e) as follows:

(1) The requirements of paragraph (b) shall apply.

(2) Method 21 of appendix A-7 to this part shall be used to determine the background level. All potential leak interfaces shall be traversed as close to the interface as possible. The arithmetic difference between the maximum concentration indicated by the instrument and the background level is compared with 500 ppm for determining compliance.

(d) The owner or operator shall test each piece of equipment unless they demonstrate that a process unit is not in VOC service, i.e., that the VOC content would never be reasonably expected to exceed 10 percent by weight. For purposes of this demonstration, the following methods and procedures shall be used:

(1) Procedures that conform to the general methods in ASTM E168-16 (Reapproved 2023), E169-16 (Reapproved 2022), or E260-96 (Reapproved 2019) (incorporated by reference, see § 60.17) shall be used to determine the percent VOC content in the process fluid that is contained in or contacts a piece of equipment.

(2) Organic compounds that are considered by the Administrator to have negligible photochemical reactivity may be excluded from the total quantity of organic compounds in determining the VOC content of the process fluid.

(3) Engineering judgment may be used to estimate the VOC content, if a piece of equipment had not been shown previously to be in service. If the Administrator disagrees with the judgment, paragraphs (d)(1) and (2) of this section shall be used to resolve the disagreement.

(e) The owner or operator shall demonstrate that a piece of equipment is in light liquid service by showing that all the following conditions apply:

(1) The vapor pressure of one or more of the organic components is greater than 0.3 kPa at 20 °C (1.2 in. H₂O at 68 °F). Standard reference texts or ASTM D2879-23 (incorporated by reference, see § 60.17) shall be used to determine the vapor pressures.

(2) The total concentration of the pure organic components having a vapor pressure greater than 0.3 kPa at 20 °C (1.2 in. H₂O at 68 °F) is equal to or greater than 20 percent by weight.

(3) The fluid is a liquid at operating conditions.

(f) Samples used in conjunction with paragraphs (d), (e), and (g) of this section shall be representative of the process fluid that is contained in or contacts the equipment or the gas being combusted in the flare.

(g) The owner or operator shall determine compliance with the standards of flares as follows:

(1) Method 22 of appendix A-7 to this part shall be used to determine visible emissions.

(2) A thermocouple or any other equivalent device shall be used to monitor the presence of a pilot flame in the flare.

(3) The maximum permitted velocity for air assisted flares shall be computed using the following equation:

Equation 1 to Paragraph (g)(3)

V_max = K₁ + K₂H_T

Where:

V_max = Maximum permitted velocity, m/sec (ft/sec).

H_T = Net heating value of the gas being combusted, MJ/scm (Btu/scf).

K₁ = 8.706 m/sec (metric units) = 28.56 ft/sec (English units).

K₂ = 0.7084 m⁴/(MJ-sec) (metric units) = 0.087 ft⁴/(Btu-sec) (English units).

(4) The net heating value (HT) of the gas being combusted in a flare shall be computed using the following equation:

Equation 2 to Paragraph (g)(4)

Where:

K = Conversion constant, 1.740 × 10⁻⁷ (g-mole)(MJ)/(ppm-scm-kcal) (metric units) = 4.674 × 10⁻⁶ [(g-mole)(Btu)/(ppm-scf-kcal)] (English units).

C_i = Concentration of sample component “i,” ppm

H_i = net heat of combustion of sample component “i” at 25 °C and 760 mm Hg (77 °F and 14.7 psi), kcal/g-mole.

(5) Method 18 of appendix A-6 to this part and ASTM D1945-14 (Reapproved 2019) (incorporated by reference, see § 60.17) shall be used to determine the concentration of sample component “i.” ASTM D6420-18 (incorporated by reference, see § 60.17) may be used in lieu of Method 18, under the conditions specified in paragraphs (g)(5)(i) through (iii) of this section.

(i) If the target compounds are all known and are all listed in Section 1.1 of ASTM D6420-18 as measurable.

(ii) ASTM D6420-18 may not be used for methane and ethane.

(iii) ASTM D6420-18 may not be used as a total VOC method.

(6) ASTM D240-19 or D4809-18 (incorporated by reference, see § 60.17) shall be used to determine the net heat of combustion of component “i” if published values are not available or cannot be calculated.

(7) Method 2, 2A, 2C, or 2D of appendix A-7 to this part, as appropriate, shall be used to determine the actual exit velocity of a flare. If needed, the unobstructed (free) cross-sectional area of the flare tip shall be used.

(h) The owner or operator shall determine compliance with § 60.483-1b or § 60.483-2b as follows:

(1) The percent of valves leaking shall be determined using the following equation:

Equation 3 to Paragraph (h)(1)

%V_L = (V_L/V_T) * 100

Where:

%V_L = Percent leaking valves.

V_L = Number of valves found leaking.

V_T = The sum of the total number of valves monitored.

(2) The total number of valves monitored shall include difficult-to-monitor and unsafe-to-monitor valves only during the monitoring period in which those valves are monitored.

(3) The number of valves leaking shall include valves for which repair has been delayed.

(4) Any new valve that is not monitored within 30 days of being placed in service shall be included in the number of valves leaking and the total number of valves monitored for the monitoring period in which the valve is placed in service.

(5) If the process unit has been subdivided in accordance with § 60.482-7b(c)(1)(ii), the sum of valves found leaking during a monitoring period includes all subgroups.

(6) The total number of valves monitored does not include a valve monitored to verify repair.