2016 IFA Environmental Performance Benchmarking

Guidelines

If you would like to download and print a PDF version of this guidance, please click here.

We strongly recommend that you review these guidelines carefully before submitting your 2015 data:

  please note: specific guidance is included in each relevant question throughout the online format.
For your convenience, we have consolidated all the guidance below for your referral purposes as needed.

1. Please provide the data in metric tons for the calendar year 2015 (and for dust emissions, please also provide the data in mg/Nm₃ as indicated)
2. Emissions which are less than 1 ton/year do not need to be reported, with the exception of fluoride emissions whose limit is 0,1 ton/year.
3. Total emissions per product category should be reported, including covering continuous, non-continuous, and accidental emissions. Emissions associated with rainwater and site drainage should also be included.
4. Emissions should be reported for all units that have been in operation in the calendar year, including those units that were in partial operation during the calendar year.
5. Please report all emissions for each production unit on site (ammonia, nitric acid, phosphoric acid, etc.). If there is more than one production unit on the site covering the same type of product (i.e. two ammonia plants), then please report the emissions data separately for each unit as indicated in the online survey form.
6. In the case that the production unit is located on a site with several other production units, there may be difficulty in the allocation of central services such as an ancillary plant. The site filling in the data should complete the split of emissions from such centralized services between the various production units. If these measurements do not exist, the allocation should be calculated according to best estimates.
7. When the effluents run to an internal or external treatment plant, the site should make a best estimate of the final emission to the environment and allocate them accordingly to the individual production units on site.
8. Only the emissions from the production unit itself should be covered. No credit/debit in emissions shall be calculated for imported materials, nor regarding energy import/export.
9. All emissions to water from fertilizer production shall be converted to the elemental form: N or P (not P₂O₅). (If the site imports water that already contains N or P, and then emits this water back to the environment, then this N or P shall be included in the figure provided)
10. Dust (=particulate material) includes materials that are a solid at the point of emission together with solutions (expressed on dry basis), which dry out in the atmosphere. A stream saturated with water vapor, but containing fertilizer solution in droplet form is to be considered as dust for the purposes of this report (expressed on dry basis). In some countries, this is considered to be a particulate emission, in other countries it is excluded, however for consistency in the IFA benchmarking, this emission should be included. The amount of dust to be registered is limited to stack emissions.
11. Ammonia to air is to be reported as tons of NH₃.
12. CO₂ to air from ammonia production shall be reported as (1) CO₂ in flue gas (from fuel combustion), and (2) CO₂ from the ammonia process (pure CO₂). If it is not possible to differentiate between the two emission categories, the total CO₂ shall be registered in the ‘flue gas’ column. CO₂ is normally not measured, so the emissions should be calculated based on the energy consumption.
13. NOx is the sum of: NO₂ + NO converted to NO₂.
14. The data for NOx ppmv and N₂O ppmv should represent normal steady state operation, under the most favorable operating conditions.
15. Production volumes of nitric acid shall be given as 100% HNO₃, sulphuric acid as 100% H₂SO₄, and phosphoric acid as 100% P₂O₅.
16. If measurements of N₂O emissions are not available, use the following simplifications:

The following formula can be used for transforming N₂O ppmv into N₂O kg per ton HNO₃:
 X kg N₂O per ton HNO₃ = Y ppmv * Z m3 per ton HNO₃ * 1.963 kg/m3 N₂O

Production profile

5. Production site/complex:

Please note: if you would like to report emissions data for more than one production site, you will have the option to be re-directed to a new survey form to enter the date for the additional site in question #22. *This question is required.

6. Country *This question is required.

7. Type of product(s) manufactured at this production site or complex?

Please click several product areas if that is the case: *This question is required.

• AMMONIA
• NITRIC ACID
• UREA
• AN
• CAN
• CN
• SULPHURIC ACID PRODUCTION
• PHOSPHORIC ACID PRODUCTION
• TSP
• SSP
• MAP
• DAP
• NPK

8. Total number of production units at this site or complex:

016edition@ifa-environmentalsurvey.org.