This series of posts is what I tell people when they ask me this question. You have to do a little reading.
ALLEGHENY COUNTY HEALTH DEPARTMENT AIR QUALITY PROGRAM
Violation No. 220302
ENFORCEMENT ORDER March 7, 2022. Click this link to read the order regarding Hydrogen sulfide.
"Paragraph 2. United States Steel Corporation (hereinafter “U.S. Steel”) owns and operates a
facility in Clairton, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania (hereinafter “Clairton Coke Plant”).
Clairton Coke Plant operates ten coke batteries and produces approximately 11,000 tons of coke per day from the destructive distillation (carbonization) of approximately 14,000 tons of coal. During the carbonization process, approximately 170 million cubic feet of coke oven gas are produced. The volatile products of coal contained in the coke oven gas are recovered in the by-products plant. In addition to the coke oven gas, daily production of these by-products includes approximately 100,000 gallons of crude tar, 14,000 to 30,000 gallons of light oil, 40 tons of elemental sulfur, and 50 tons of ammonia."
"Paragraph 9. The Clairton Coke Plant is a significant source of hydrogen sulfide (H2S)
emissions.In the two most recent emission inventory submittals from 2019 and 2020, U.S. Steel reported to ACHD 156 tons of H2S emissions and 127 tons of H2S emissions, respectively. These emissions result from multiple processes at the plant, including, but not limited to:
Dampering coke ovens from the gas collection system and opening standpipe
caps prior to pushing coke from the ovens (“soaking”);
Battery door leaks;
By-product plant sources (including tar and flushing liquor decanters, flushing liquor surge tanks, flushing liquor pumphouse sumps, and by-product pitch traps);
Gooseneck leaks (where gas is removed from each oven before passing into the
collector main);
Miscellaneous battery fugitives (including bleeder stacks, battery pitch traps, and
flushing liquor return vents); and
SCOT plant tail gas incinerator"
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