European environmental legislation requires the use of “Best Available Techniques” (BAT). “Reducing this requirement to the content of a regulation does not do justice to the potential of this approach,” says Daniel Goebel, Sales Director Compressor Sealing Aftermarket at EagleBurgmann (EMEA region), and he further explains how the “Best Available Techniques” can be optimally applied in many ways with the support of EagleBurgmann.

So the use of the “Best Available Techniques” is more than just an inconvenient requirement to be met?

Goebel: Ab­solutely! The leg­is­la­tion persues certain goals, such as reducing emis­sions, im­prov­ing energy ef­fi­ciency and min­i­miz­ing waste. In other words, it serves to improve living con­di­tions and promote sus­tain­able de­vel­op­ment. Ideally, tech­no­log­i­cal in­no­va­tion will follow and make im­prove­ments possible.

In this way, the concept of “Best Avail­able Tech­niques” is not just about com­ply­ing with laws and reg­u­la­tions. It also makes the op­er­a­tion of systems more ef­fi­cient or eco­nom­i­cal – provided that the right tech­nol­ogy is used in the right place.

Lawmakers have kept the requirements general to maintain vendor neutrality – won’t that cause problems in practice?

Goebel: Yes, but I believe that many prac­ti­cal problems are the result of mis­con­cep­tions. The “Best Avail­able Tech­niques” is a concept that is applied to many tech­ni­cal fields, in our case to sealing tech­nol­ogy. Op­er­a­tors need to take a holistic approach to this concept or work with partners who will support them. This is par­tic­u­larly im­por­tant for special ap­pli­ca­tions or in fields where rapid in­no­va­tion is a major factor. Both aspects apply to sealing tech­nol­ogy, and it is not easy to have or maintain a good overview of the “Best Avail­able Tech­niques” in each case.

Is there any information on the “Best Available Techniques”?

Goebel: There is. Examples include the BAT ref­er­ence doc­u­ments and BAT con­clu­sions as well as in­dus­try-spe­cific doc­u­men­ta­tion on the current state of the art. These are provided by the European IPPC office in Seville. However, the spec­i­fi­ca­tions for “me­chan­i­cal seals” are only very general. Ex­pe­di­ent re­fine­ment and con­sol­i­da­tion is cur­rently a task of the Seville process.

In­ter­na­tion­ally, the re­quire­ments of the American Pe­tro­leum In­sti­tute (API) and many other reg­u­la­tions and rec­om­men­da­tions also provide guidance.

As an operator and plant manufacturer, where do I get information about the innovations of the seal manufacturers?

Goebel: This im­por­tant in­for­ma­tion on in­no­va­tions, which may deliver a better overall result than “just” com­ply­ing with reg­u­la­tions, is pre­sented in spe­cial­ist media, at trade shows and pre­sen­ta­tions or in man­u­fac­turer’s doc­u­men­ta­tion, to name just a few examples. However, these are only starting points. The best solution for the specific ap­pli­ca­tion is then de­vel­oped in dialogue with people like our experts. We are cur­rently engaged in in­ten­sive dis­cus­sions with op­er­a­tors on this matter. One of the topics is how to reduce methane emis­sions from gas pipelines. Our CobaDGS zero-emis­sion seal is a good example of in­no­va­tion in this area. There aren’t any reg­u­la­tions re­quir­ing it yet, but it not only reduces emis­sions but also in­creases system re­li­a­bil­ity. It forms the basis for some in­ter­est­ing business cases.

Work on the introduction of BAT is under way in many areas, but the specifications are lagging behind technical developments ...

Goebel: ... un­for­tu­nately this is the case and will only change if tech­no­log­i­cal de­vel­op­ment is slower than the qual­i­fi­ca­tion processes. But this is not the sit­u­a­tion we should wish for, because en­vi­ron­men­tally friendly and sus­tain­able in­dus­trial pro­duc­tion requires for­ward-look­ing in­no­va­tions. It’s good that we have so many in­no­va­tions and are able to make progress in current trends. Our in­no­va­tions, such as new groove designs for seal faces, low-fric­tion seals or the afore­men­tioned CobaDGS seal, open up in­ter­est­ing po­ten­tial for plant man­u­fac­tur­ers and op­er­a­tors today. The goal of our de­vel­op­ments is always to minimize leakage, increase ef­fi­ciency and extend the plant’s service life.

Back to the term “Best Available Techniques”. Does this just mean the best technical solution?

Goebel: No, it’s about the best tech­ni­cal solution for an ap­pli­ca­tion within the scope of its relevant ap­pli­ca­tion criteria. For example, the design of the seal itself can make all the dif­fer­ence in terms of reduced leakage and/or more ef­fi­cient plant op­er­a­tion. Other starting points include op­ti­miza­tion of the supply system or mon­i­tor­ing logic. This makes it all the more im­por­tant to be clear about what your op­er­a­tional ob­jec­tives are. This will lead to the best overall solution, taking into account the com­mer­cial aspect, of course. As such, the Best Avail­able Tech­niques do not lead to the same sealing solution for every ap­pli­ca­tion.

You mentioned the economic aspect. Does the use of “Best Available Techniques” come with higher costs?

Goebel: This is a question of per­spec­tive and varies from operator to operator. When an operator focuses on meeting new re­quire­ments on short notice, costs au­to­mat­i­cally take center stage. However, if he focuses on the service life of the pro­duc­tion fa­cil­i­ties, which I think is sensible, a dif­fer­ent picture emerges. Longer service life and main­te­nance in­ter­vals, lower con­sump­tion and fewer leaks, etc. quickly reveal in­ter­est­ing ef­fi­ciency po­ten­tial as part of a solid total cost of own­er­ship analysis. At the start, it’s ir­rel­e­vant whether the “Best Avail­able Tech­niques” are used.

What do you mean?

Goebel: I can consider BAT for new in­stal­la­tions or re­vi­sions to meet reg­u­la­tory re­quire­ments. This is standard practice. However, an upgrade to the Best Avail­able Tech­niques can also be worth­while, es­pe­cially in the case of tech­ni­cal in­no­va­tions that meet key market re­quire­ments. Today, this also includes sus­tain­able and en­vi­ron­men­tally friendly plant op­er­a­tion. It must be made clear that systems based on the Best Avail­able Tech­niques have lower energy con­sump­tion, longer service lives and enable safe op­er­a­tion for people and the en­vi­ron­ment.

How great is the current demand for sustainable and environmentally compatible solutions?

Goebel: On the one hand, it is growing and ex­ceed­ing re­quire­ments such as those set by the German Tech­ni­cal In­struc­tions on Air Quality Control (TA Luft) . More and more plant op­er­a­tors are aware of their re­spon­si­bil­ity, and we are happy to support them because the best avail­able sealing tech­nol­ogy offers great leverage to achieve the set goals.

On the other hand, we see all too often that the initial costs for an upgrade, for example, are the primary con­sid­er­a­tion, rather than the total cost of own­er­ship. This is a shame because an ap­pro­pri­ate upgrade can provide a quick return on in­vest­ment, which can be anywhere from one to three years, de­pend­ing on the system and its impact. This is why a holistic approach is so im­por­tant.

But “holistic approach” is an imprecise term. What do you mean by that?

Goebel: In addition to the aspects men­tioned above, system man­u­fac­tur­ers and op­er­a­tors must consider the ever-in­creas­ing pace of tech­no­log­i­cal de­vel­op­ment and the entire life­cy­cle of a system or product. The re­sult­ing product life cycle man­age­ment also requires system man­u­fac­tur­ers to take a close look at the op­er­at­ing con­di­tions and pro­duc­tion goals of the op­er­a­tors and work together to develop so­lu­tions. For example, the focus may be on how a product can be man­u­fac­tured and repaired with the smallest possible en­vi­ron­men­tal foot­print.

Other topics include energy and resource con­sump­tion. In addition to the classic re­quire­ments such as min­i­miz­ing leakage or in­creas­ing energy ef­fi­ciency, we are cur­rently working on concepts to extend the service life or the “mean time between main­te­nance (MTBM)”. We offer so­lu­tions such as our Smart Seal conceptfor this purpose. Through ex­ten­sive data col­lec­tion and analysis, we help to better un­der­stand systems and com­po­nents in op­er­a­tion, thereby ex­tend­ing their service life and im­prov­ing op­er­a­tional ef­fi­ciency.

How does EagleBurgmann provide concrete support when it comes to implementing TA Luft, for example?

Goebel: It all starts with ap­pli­ca­tion en­gi­neer­ing con­sult­ing to de­ter­mine the best tech­ni­cal, economic and reg­u­la­tory solution. This is where our broad product range and ap­pli­ca­tion ex­per­tise come into play, allowing us to serve vir­tu­ally any ap­pli­ca­tion in a wide range of in­dus­tries. Our products range from multiple me­chan­i­cal seals and the as­so­ci­ated seal supply systems to magnetic cou­plings, multi-cham­ber lip seals, flange seals, shut-off and control seals, carbon floating ring seals, ex­pan­sion joints and spe­cial­ity seals.

We also assist op­er­a­tors in ob­tain­ing official ap­provals for plant op­er­a­tion when they use new tech­nolo­gies. We then support you with com­pre­hen­sive services to ensure ef­fi­cient and safe op­er­a­tion. These range from op­ti­mized in­ven­tory man­age­ment, assembly, main­te­nance and repair to tech­ni­cal analysis, con­sult­ing and en­gi­neer­ing, such as re­li­a­bil­ity en­gi­neer­ing or “bad actor support”. When up­grad­ing the sealing tech­nol­ogy, a ded­i­cated team ensures that the best solution is safely in­te­grated into the systems. Finally, we train the tech­ni­cal staff at our facility or at the customer’s site. This holistic approach makes the total cost of own­er­ship a re­al­is­tic and tangible figure.

Many regulations, such as TA Luft, only apply in Germany. How does your support adapt to globally operating companies?

Goebel: Quite flexibly, but the same way in prin­ci­ple. EagleBurgmann itself is a global company with an in­ter­na­tional presence. Op­er­a­tors can contact their nearest customer center to work with us on a case-by-case basis to im­ple­ment suitable so­lu­tions that meet the re­quire­ments of the country in question.

However, com­pli­ance with reg­u­la­tions such as TA Luft is only one aspect. There are several sets of in­ter­na­tional reg­u­la­tions, some of which have been adopted, are under de­vel­op­ment, or are in the planning stages. What they all have in common is the goal of pro­tect­ing the en­vi­ron­ment and people. These goals are the same in Europe, the Americas, and Asia. Local reg­u­la­tions such as TA Luft are then im­ple­mented in Germany but also have an impact on other coun­tries. Reg­u­la­tions are just one aspect, albeit an im­por­tant one. Our aim is to make ad­vance­ments with the “right” in­no­va­tions in order to serve sus­tain­able de­vel­op­ment. With this approach, we see our­selves as the “tech­ni­cal” market leader. We can offer good so­lu­tions that both comply with reg­u­la­tions and provide added value to op­er­a­tors and equip­ment man­u­fac­tur­ers.