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Literature Review
CHAPTER TOW LITERATURE REVIEW
Additionally, crude oils may contain trace amounts of metals such as nickel and
vanadium, as well as salts. Most of the non-hydrogen, non-carbon elements found in
crude oils are undesirable and are removed from the hydrocarbons in total or in part
during refinery processing.[19
Oils are named and grouped into broad categories typically based on the
geographic location of origin, along with the level of sulfur contained in the crude
and/or density of the crude oil.[19]
One of the key attributes for characterizing the hydrocarbons composing crude oils
is by boiling point. this attribute is determined through laboratory test methods by
measuring the temperature at which the components of the crude oil will evaporate at
a given pressure (typically atmospheric pressure unless stated to be a different
pressure basis) [19].
The crude oil mixture is composed as shown in Figure 2.1 and can be also
composed as the following groups:
Crude Oil
Hydrocarbons
Non-hydrocarbons Ometallic-
(Paraffins, compunds (Nickel
Naphthene, (sulfur, Nitrogen,
oxygen) Vanadium, salts)
Aromatics)
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The following are some of the important tests used to determine the properties of
crude oils:
Density, Viscosity.
Specific gravity.
The API (American Petroleum Institute) gravity.
Sulfur content.
Salt Content.
Octane number.
Pour point.
Flash point.
Vapor pressure.
Carbon, salt residue …..ect.
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Products
Conversion Fractionatio
processes n
Nearly every aspect of our modern lifestyle is affected by oil. Oil is used to power
our vehicles, to create medicines that keep us healthy, and to make the plastics,
cosmetics, and other personal products that enhance our daily lives. However, none of
these products would exist without the refining process [19].
The purpose of refining is to convert natural raw materials such as crude oil and
natural gas into useful saleable product. In refineries, they are transformed into
different products as [19]:
Fuels for cars, trucks, aero planes, ships and other forms of transport.
Combustion fuels for the generation of heat and power for industry and
households
Raw materials for the petrochemical and chemical industries
Specialty products such as lubricating oils, paraffin's/waxes and bitumen.
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In the world of oil Refining there is two type of Refinery, these are:
Small Refinery's: will take in 2000 to 10000 tons of crude oil/ day.
large Refinery's :will take in 20000 to 40000 tons/day and these are a few
refineries larger than this up to 60000 tons/day.[16]
Petroleum refineries are complex plants, where the combination and sequence of
processes is usually very specific to the characteristics of the raw materials (crude oil)
and the products to be produced.[26]
The crude oil passed first though furnace that where the crude oil is heated.
Because the separation of crude oil into fractions according to boiling point and
charged to an atmospheric distillation tower, where it is separated into (LPG + gases,
LSR, HN, Kerosene, gas oil and atm-residue). [26]
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Catalytic Thermal
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Flaring is the controlled burning of natural gas in the course of routine oil and gas
production operations. This burning occurs at the tip of a flare stack or boom. A
complete flare system consists of the flare stack or boom and pipes which collect the
gases to be flared. The flare tip at the end of the stack or boom is designed to assist
entrainment of air into the flare to improve burn efficiency. Seals installed in the stack
prevent flashback of the flame, and a vessel at the base of the stack removes and
conserves any liquids from the gas passing to the flare. A flare is normally visible and
generates both noise and heat. During flaring, the burned gas generates mainly water
vapour and carbon dioxide. Efficient combustion in the flame depends on achieving
good mixing between the fuel gas and air, and on the absence of liquids. Low pressure
pipe flares are not intended to handle liquids and do not perform efficiently when
hydrocarbon liquids are released into the flare system. The percentage combustion
efficiency of a well-designed and operated flare are often higher than 98%. The gas to
be flared at the flare stack in oil and gas production process may come from a variety
of sources. It may be the excess gas not used for power generation, unburned process
gas from the process facilities, gas from process upsets, equipment changeover or
maintenance. Occasionally, production shutdowns may require the temporary flaring
of all the gas stored on or arriving at a facility, to release high pressure and avoid a
catastrophic situation occurring [20].
2.5.2 Venting
Venting is the controlled release of gases into the atmosphere in the course of oil
and gas production operations. These gases might be natural gas or other hydrocarbon
vapours, water vapour, and other gases, such as carbon dioxide, separated in the
processing of oil or natural gas. In venting, the natural gases associated with the oil
and gas production are released directly into the atmosphere and not burned. Safe
venting is assured when the gas is released at high pressure and is lighter than air such
that the strong mixing potential of high-pressure jets ensures proper mix of the
discharged hydrocarbon gases with the air down to safe concentrations at which there
is no risk of explosion. Venting is normally not a visible process. However, it can
generate noise, depending on the pressure and flow rate of the vented gases. In some
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cases, venting is the best option for disposal of the associated gas. For example, in
some cases, a high concentration of inert gas is present in the associated gas. Without
sufficiently high hydrocarbon content, the gas will not burn and flaring is not a viable
option. Sometimes the source of inert gas may come from the process systems. The
purging of process systems with inert gas may, in itself, justify venting as the safest
means of disposal [20].
Generally, the gas flaring will consist of a mixture of different gases. The
composition will depend upon the source of the gas going to the flare system.
Associated gases released during oil-gas production mainly contain natural gas.
Natural gas is more than 90 % methane (CH4) with ethane and a small amount of
other hydrocarbons; inert gases such as N2 and CO2 may also be present. Gas flaring
from refineries and other process operations will commonly contain a mixture of
hydrocarbons and in some cases H2. However, landfill gas, biogas or digester gas is a
mixture of CH4 and CO2 along with small amounts of other inert gases. There is in
fact no standard composition and it is therefore necessary to define some group of gas
flaring according to the actual parameters of the gas. Changing gas composition will
affect the heat transfer capabilities of the gas and affect the performance of the
measurement by flow meter. An example of waste gas compositions at a typical plant
is listed in Table 2.3 [21].
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The value of the gas is based primarily on its heating value. Composition of flared
gas is important for assessing its economic value and for matching it with suitable
process or disposal. For example, for transport in the upstream pipeline network, the
key consideration is the H2S content of the gas. Gas is considered sour if it contains
10 mol/kmol H2S or more [22].
Gas flaring is one of the most challenging energy and environmental problems
facing the world today. Environmental consequences associated with gas flaring have
a considerable impact on local populations, often resulting in severe health issues.
Generally, gas flaring is normally visible and emitted both noise and heat.
Ghadyanlou and Vatani calculated the thermal radiation and noise level as a function
of distance from the flare using commercial software for flare systems. The results are
presented in Table 2.4a. [23]
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The technology to address the problem of gas flaring exists today and the policy
regulations required are largely understood. Global emissions from gas flaring stand
for more than 50 % of the annual Certified Emissions Reductions (624 Mt CO2)
currently issued under the Kyoto Clean Development Mechanisms. However, flaring
is considered as much safer than just venting gases to the atmosphere. Pollutants of
flare and their health effect are summarized in Table 2.4b [24].
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bronchitis.
In low densities it will result in
Alkanes: Methane, Ethane, Propane swelling, itching and inflammation and
in high densities it will result in eczema
and acute lung swelling.
Alkenes: Ethylene, Propylene It will result in weakness, nausea and
vomit.
It is poisonous and carcinogenic. It
influences on nerve system and in low
Aromatics: Benzene, Toluene, Xylene densities it will result in blood
abnormalities and also it will stimulate
skin and result in depression.
CO2 and CH4 are Green House Gases ‘GHG’ that, when released directly into the
air, traps heat in the atmosphere. The climate impact is obvious, suggesting a great
contribution to global GHG emissions. For example, about 45.8 billion kW of heat
into atmosphere of Niger Delta from flared gas daily released As a result of the
environment, gas flaring has raised temperatures and rendered large areas
uninhabitable. CO2 emissions from flaring have high global warming potential and
contribute to climate change. CO2 emissions come from only the combustion of fossil
fuels for about 75 % . CH4 is actually more harmful than CO2. It has about 25 times
greater global warming potential than CO2 on a mass basis .It is also more prevalent
in flares that burn at lower efficiency .Therefore, there are concerns about CH4 and
other volatile organic compounds from different operations[22,23].
Other pollutants such as sulfur oxides (SOx), nitrogen oxides (NOx) and volatile
organic components (VOC) also released from flaring. Studied of emissions in US
from a number of oil refinery flare systems in the Bay Area Management District
(California) have been done. They concluded that, the emissions ranged from 2.5 to
55 tons/day of total organic compounds, and from 6 to 55 tons/day SOx.[20]
Therefore, flare emissions may be a significant percentage of overall SO2 and VOC
emissions. In addition, gaseous pollutants like SO2 that are once emitted into the
atmosphere have no boundaries and become uncontrollable and cause acid deposition.
Several toxicological/epidemiological investigations during the last few decades have
shown that the effect of this gas is severe. SOx and NOx are the major causes of acid
rain and fog which harm the natural environment and human life. Also ozone has
been revealed to cause damage. Ozone is also produced by the photochemical reaction
of VOC and NOx as the main components of the oxidant. The oxidant accelerates the
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oxidation of SO2 and NOx into toxic sulfuric and nitric acids, respectively. The
removal of VOC and NO is very important to reduce the concentration of ozone
[22,23] on the other hand, a smoking flare may be a significant contributor to overall
particulate emissions. Because the most flared gas normally has not been treated or
cleaned, pose demanding service applications where there is a potential for
condensation, fouling (e.g., due to the buildup of paraffin wax and asphaltine
deposits), corrosion (e.g., due to the presence of H2S, moisture, or some air) and
possibly abrasion (e.g., due to the presence of debris, dust and corrosion products in
the piping and high flow velocities) [22,23].
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The low quality gas that is flared releases many impurities and toxic particles
into the atmosphere,
Harmful effects on human health associated with exposure to these pollutants
and the ecosystems.
Products of combustion can be hazardous when present in high amounts,
The waste gas contains CO2 and H2S, which are both weakly acidic gases and
become corrosive in the presence of water,
Acidic rain, caused by SOx in the atmosphere, is one of the main
environmental hazards; acid rains wreak havoc on the environment destroying
crops, roofs and impacting human health,
CO causes reduction in oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood, which may
lead to death
uncontrolled NOx emission could be injurious to health.
when NOx reacts with O2 in the air, the result is ground-level ozone which has
very negative effects on the respiratory system and can cause inflammation of
the airways, lung cancer etc.
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application of flaring and venting. In some situations, the toxicity of the gas relative to
the toxicity of its combustion products may need to be considered when choosing
between flaring and venting as a means of disposal. An example would be where gas
containing hydrogen sulphide is being produced. Hydrogen sulphide gas can be fatal
if inhaled; even at low concentrations but if burned the resulting sulphur dioxide is
relatively less toxic [28].
Environmental agencies independent to the oil and gas industry sometimes express
concerns about the environmental impacts of flaring and venting. One such concern
relates to the potential for global climate change. Both carbon dioxide and methane
(the major component of natural gas) are known as greenhouse gases associated with
concerns about global warming. Flaring produces predominantly carbon dioxide
emissions, while venting produces predominantly methane emissions. The two gases
have different effects, however. The global warming potential of a kilogram of
methane is estimated to be twenty-one times that of a kilogram of carbon dioxide
when the effects are considered over one hundred years. When considered in this
context, flaring will generally be preferred over venting the same amount of gas in the
design of new facilities where sufficient amounts of gas will be produced to run a
flare. While there are still many uncertainties in our understanding of the complex
issue of climate change, it makes sense to avoid the unnecessary release of carbon
dioxide or methane into the atmosphere, where practicable. This point to a need to
reduce emissions in a reasonably practicable way. Apart from the concern of global
climate change, flaring and venting also have the potential to contribute to local
environmental impacts such as local air quality; and thus this aspect need to be
properly managed. Although the global warming potential of methane when
compared to carbon dioxide usually suggests that flaring is a more environmentally
attractive option than venting, onshore oil and gas developments sometimes prefer
venting because it is less visible and produces less noise. In all cases, the company
has the responsibility to make parties involved aware of all aspects of the issue to
ensure reasoned decisions are taken and supported [28].
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measurement and reduction for both environmental and economic reasons. The World
Bank estimates that between 150 to 170 billion cubic meters of gases are flared or
vented annually, an amount worth approximately $ 30.6 billion, equivalent to 25 % of
the United States’ gas consumption or 30 % of the European Union’s gas
consumption per year. The EPA estimates that the cost of compliance will rise to $
754 million per year by 2015 for gas wells alone. Geographic shows that a small
number of countries contribute the most to global flaring emissions. At the end of
2011, 10 countries accounted for 72 % of the flaring, and twenty for 86 %. In 2012
Russia and Nigeria accounted for about 40 % of global flaring [25]. Major flaring
countries around the world are shown on Figure 2.3 [25].
Figure 2.3: Top 20 gas flaring countries (NOAA satellite data) [25]
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detection and mass balance. To tolerate the extreme process conditions often found in
a flare line, yet provide accurate measurement to comply with regulators such as the
Energy and Utilities Board, the technology of choice is of most importance [25].
Environmental and economical considerations have increased the use of flare gas
recovery systems (FGRS) to minimize the amount of gas being flared. The recovery
of flared gas reduces noise and thermal radiation, operating and maintenance costs,
air pollution and gas emission and reduces fuel gas and steam consumption. In
recent years, there has been an international direction to reduce gas flaring and
venting through the World Bank global gas flaring reduction (GGFR) partnership
and the global methane initiative (GMI). Several countries are now signatories on
the GGFR partnership’s voluntary standard for flare and vent reduction, and both
the GGFR partnership and GMI actively promote demonstration projects to reduce
flaring and venting. Other regulations can be used to reduce flaring such as direct
regulation include Norway, where there is an enforced policy of zero flaring and
North Dakota in the U.S., where oil producers will be required to meet gas capture
targets or face having their oil production rates capped. Additionally, the United
Nations’ Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) by offering ‘Certified Emissions
Reductions’ provides flaring and venting reduction projects [22].
Several steps may be help to reduce the flared gas losses such as: proper
operation and maintenance of flares systems, modifying start up and shutdown
procedures. In addition, eliminating leaking valves, efficient use of fuel gases
required for proper operation of the flare and better control of steam to achieve
smokeless burning all contribute to reducing flare losses. Recovery methods may
also use to minimize environmental and economic disadvantages of burning flare
gas. Recently, several technology in flare tip design offers the greatest reduction in
flare loss. Even in most advanced countries only a decade has passed from FGRS,
thus the method is a new methods for application in refineries wastes. Of such
countries active in FGRS are USA, Italy, the Netherlands, and Switzerland. Most
FGRS has been installed based primarily on economics, where the payback on the
equipment was short enough to justify the capital cost. Such systems were sized to
collect most, but not all, of the waste gases. The transient spikes of high gas flows
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Decision of flaring or processing of gas depends on gas prices. Gas flaring would
be processed and sold if prices would remain high enough for a long period, and all
required infrastructure could be built for gas processing and transportation. On the
other hand, in order to select the best method for flared gas recovery and reduction,
operators must have a good understanding of how the flare gases are produced,
distributed and best consumed at the production facility. FGRS have been also
impeded by a number of technical challenges [21], such as a combination of highly
variable flow rates and composition, low heating value and low pressure of the waste
gases [22,23] . In the case of very large volumes of associated flared gas, gas-to-liquid
(GTL) conversion this gas into more valuable and more easily transported liquid
fuels, or production of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to facilitate transport to distant
markets, are potential options. Both GTL and LNG options require enormous capital
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However, reinjection of the gas flaring has been successfully used at several sites
to dispose of residual “acid-gas” (primarily hydrogen sulphide, H2S, and CO2 with
traces of hydrocarbons) from gas sweetening plants where the costs of reinjection are
less than the costs of sulphur removal. The use of flared gas to generate electricity for
on-site use is a demonstrated option, but this approach is not always economic and
can be limited by the on-site demand for electricity. By contrast, the collection and
compression of gas into pipelines for processing and sale is a well-established and
proven approach to mitigating flaring and venting [22].
Rahimpour and Jokar compared three methods for recovering the flared gas of
Farashband gas processing plant in Iran. These methods are GTL production,
electricity generation with a gas turbine and compression and injection into the
refinery pipelines. The results showed that the electricity production gives the highest
rate of return (ROR), the lowest payback period, the highest annual profit and mild
capital investment [22].
With increasing awareness of the environmental impact and the ratification of the
Kyoto protocol by most of the member countries, it is expected that gas flaring will
not be allowed in the near future. This will require significant changes in the current
practices of oil and gas production and other processes. As reported by the World
Bank (2005), economic viability of flare gas recovery projects is constrained in many
countries mainly due to high project development costs, lack of funding and lack of
distribution infrastructure. In Norway, several concepts and technologies of FGRS
have been proven and extensively applied in offshore oil-gas production fields. For
example, the gas flaring is pumped back down into the reservoir, to maintain the
pressure and flow rate of the oil being produced in the Oseberg field in Norway. By
reinjection the flared gas in the oil production industry, they are able to recover much
higher percentage of oil than if they were to simply inject water for example. Qatar
gas company has made significant progress flaring from its LNG trains in line with
the increased national focus on flare minimization and the company`s desire to reduce
its emissions and carbon footprint. Enhanced acid gas recovery and operational
excellence initiatives on source reduction and plant reliability at Qatar gas` older,
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In Nigeria several efforts have been made to reduce gas flaring, including the
establishment of a liquefied natural gas plant, a pipeline to transport gas to some
neighbouring countries, and legislative measures to regulate the oil and gas industry.
According to Al-Blaies, Nigeria flared a total of 15.2 billion m3 of gas in 2010, the
second largest in the world. When compared with the quantity of gas flared in 2005
there is about 29 % decrease in gas flaring in Nigeria, mainly due to the
implementation of some flare reduction projects. Even then, the quantity of gas flared
in Nigeria is still substantive, and as at 2010, the country remains one of the worst
offenders when it comes to natural gas flaring, second only to Russia. Since 2000,
Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) of Nigeria began an ongoing
multiyear program to install equipment to capture gas from its facilities. In total
SPDC flaring dropped by more than 60 % between 2002 and 2011 from over 0.6
billion ft3 /day to about 0.2 billion ft3 /day [22].
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over the last 14 years. Since 2000, TCO has reduced flaring volume by more than 93
%. At the same time, TCO has achieved a 99 % gas utilization rate and increased its
oil production volumes by 158 % [22].
Tahouni et. al., integrated flared gas stream to the fuel gas network with waste and
fuel gas streams in the refinery case study. A fuel gas network was collected fuel
gases from various source streams and mixed them in an optimal manner, and
supplied them to different fuel sinks such as furnaces, boilers, turbines, etc. This study
proved that the optimal fuel gas network could be reduced energy costs and flaring
emissions by using flared gas stream to the network [22].
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compression and recovery system (FGRS) can be used to reduce the volume of flared
gases. Figure (2.6) shows a general view of a FGRS. To recover flared gas, after
collecting from flare header, it is diverted to the FGRS downstream of the knock-out
drum by a liquid seal vessel and passes through a compressor. The compressed gas is
then discharged into a mixed phase separator. The liquid is pumped through a heat
exchanger and back to the service liquid inlet on the compressor. The compressed gas
is separated from the liquid and is piped to the plant fuel gas header, or other
appropriate location. The compressor recycle valve is regulated with control signals
based on the inlet flare gas pressure. This ensures that the flare header is under
positive pressure at all times. In the event that the flow capacity of the FGRS is
exceeded, the liquid seal vessel will allow the excess waste gas to go to the flare
where it is safely burned. Based on refinery structure or related unit, the compressed
gases used as a feed or fuel. If required, to reach entrance gas temperature to FGRS
and external gas temperature from this unit to an optional temperature, heat
exchangers are used [22].
The compressor is the main part of the FGRS. The most suitable compressor design
for FGRS depends on many factors such as initial cost, process requirements, physical
size, efficiency, operating and maintenance requirements. Over the last 35 years
several compressor types including dry screw compressors (DSC), sliding vane
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FGRS are seldom sized for emergency flare loads. FGRS often are installed to comply
with local regulatory limits on flare operation and, therefore, must be sized to
conform to any such limits. The normal flare loads vary widely depending on the
plants throughput and operating mode. To enable recovery of over 90 % of the total
annual flare load and keep flaring to a practical minimum, the compression facilities
should be designed to handle about 2 to 3 times the average normal flare load. In
other plants, such as chemical plants, may have lower normal variation in flare rates.
For this reason, the installations may be sized for a lower flow range [22].
The composition of the flared gas is the strongest influence parameter on the
FGRS. In general, changes in molecular weight in the gas stream going to the FGRS
can generate the potential for overloading the compressor, leading to possible damage
and a large increase in the specific heat ratio. Changing in molecular weight can also
increase the gas discharge temperature after compression [23]. Generally, if the
variation in the gas composition remains within the ranges specified in the data-sheet,
the compressor performance can be achieved [22].
FGRS significantly reduced the GHG emissions from the different industries, and
the harmful impacts normally associated with flaring. Duck reported that about 60
MMBTU/hr of flare gas was recovered by using FGRS in oil refining plant in
Dushanzi-China. FGRS including LRC is a skid-mounted packaged system located
downstream of the knock-out drum since all the flare gases are available at this single
point. The results of using FGRS showed that, the plant prevented annually about
32.5, 176.8 and 67,000 metric tons of NOx, CO and CO2 from being emitted to the
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atmosphere, respectively. Additionally, thermal radiation from the flames was greatly
reduced which resulted in an increase in overall safety of the plant. Light and noise
were also greatly reduced. Furthermore, the FGRS installation allows substantial cost
savings because the recovered gases can be used as fuel or process feedstock.
Assuming a fuel gas cost of $ 5.00/MMBTU the plant will save more than $
5,000,000 per year on fuel gas costs if the FGRS operate at full capacity. With an
expected operating cost of $ 300,000 per year, the cost of the FGRS could be
recovered in less than 9 months [22].
FGRS including LRC for reducing about 163,000 tCO2e/year of baseline emissions
from Suez oil refinery company in Egypt was presented. For about 94 % of gas
emissions will be decreased and a payback period of about 2 years. Another FGRS in
Farashband gas refinery in Iran, using piston compressors operate to recover about
4.176 MMSCFD of flared gas, provides a compressed natural gas with 129 bar
pressure for injection to the refinery pipelines [22].
In Uran plant (205 Km from the Mumbai High offshore field), FGRS was used to
recycle all of the flare gases and process them to recover and utilize valuable
hydrocarbon of about 30,000 - 150,000 SCMD from gas processing in order to
achieve technical zero flaring. Screw compressor (oil flooded) was used in this FGRS
and designed to capable of handling gases of molecular weight between 19.5 - 36.2
(flare gas molecular weight varies as per flaring from different plant and sources).
FGRS has significantly reduced the CO2 emissions released into the environments.
The total estimated reduction about 977,405 tCO2e from 2007 - 2008 to 2016 - 2017
considering the avoidance of 44 MMSCM of gas per year. Another FGRS at Hazira
plant (232 Kms from the Mumbai offshore oil field) was designed to recover and
utilize the tail gas of about 14,000 - 73,000 SCMD from gas processing plant in order
to achieve technical zero flaring [22].
Zadakbar et. al. presented the results of two case studies of reducing, recovering
and reusing flare gases from the Tabriz Petroleum Refinery and Shahid Hashemi-
Nejad (Khangiran) Natural Gas Refinery in Iran, including eleven plants of petroleum
refineries, natural gas refineries and petrochemical plants. In the Tabriz petroleum
refinery, the recommended FGRS includes two LRC, two horizontal 3-phase
separators, two water coolers, piping and instruments. For about 630 kg/hr flare gas
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will be used as fuel gas by $ 0.7 million capital investment corresponds to a payback
period of about 20 months, and also 85 % of gas emissions will be decreased. In the
Shahid Hashemi-Nejad (Khangiran) gas recovery, three LRC, three horizontal 3-
phase separators, three water coolers, piping and instruments, proposed FGRS. For
about 25000 m3 /hr flare gas will be used as fuel gas by $ 1.4 million capital
investment corresponds to a payback period of about 4 months, and 70 % of gas
emissions will be decreased [22].
Sangsaraki and Anajafi studied the design criteria of FGRS and steady sate and
dynamic simulation of the FGRS. The recovery of 5916 normal m3 /hr of sweet
natural gas, 24 ton/hr of gas condensates and production of 297 m3 /hr of acid gas
would be possible, according to steady state simulation results. Also, the changes in
the temperature of the gases sent to the flare during total shutdown of the refinery as
well as the impact it had on FGRS behavior was studied. It is obvious that the
efficiency of the compressor is reduced due to the increase in the temperature of the
gas sent to the flare network; therefore, the value of separation in two and three-phase
separator shows a drastic change [22].
Gas-to-liquid (GTL) technology is one of the best methods for reducing gas flaring
in the application of environmentally friendly technologies. It is one of the most
promising topics in the energy industry by the conversion of flare gas to hydrocarbons
due to economic utilization of control waste gas to environmentally clean fuels.
Another environmental issue is the regulatory pressure to reduce the volume of flared
gas, which has serious environmental consequence. Recently the development of GTL
technology has been an increased interest. GTL technology plays an interest role in
delivering gas to markets as both fuel and/or chemicals. The products from GTL have
interest environmental advantages compared to traditional products, giving GTL a
significant edge as governments pass new and more stringent environmental
legislation. So, conversion of flare gas (associated gas) to synthetic fuel has attracted
more attention in some countries because of the economic and environmental benefits
derive from it [22].
Gas flaring to liquids conversions can be achieved via several chemical reaction
processes resulting in a range of end products. The Fischer-Tropsch (F-T)
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technologies are the most widely deployed. In F-T technology, associated gas firstly
pass through a steam methane reformer to produce syngas (a mixture of CO and H2,).
After that, syngas feeds into an F-T reactor that coverts to longer chain hydrocarbons
(synthetic crude oil), water, and a "tail gas" comprising H2, CO and light hydrocarbon
gases at an elevated pressure and temperature. The synthetic crude oil is then
delivered to a conventional refinery for onward processing. The excess heat generated
from the reaction has typically been removed by inserting boiler tubes that carry
water. F-T products are of high quality, being free of sulfur, nitrogen, aromatics, and
other contaminants typically found in petroleum products, which is especially true for
F-T-gasoline with a very high octane number. However, drawbacks also exist for the
F-T process: the capital costs of F-T conversion plants are relatively higher and the
energy efficiency of producing F-T liquids is relatively lower than the one for other
alternative fuels such as hydrogen, methanol, dimethyl ether and conventional
biofuels [22].
The F-T process was first developed by Franz Fischer and Hans Tropsch used
ironbased catalyst followed by using both iron and cobalt-based catalysts in Germany
between 1920s and 1930s. From 1950s to 1990s, South Africa SASOL developed F-T
commercially (in conjunction with coal gasification) to convert coal to hydrocarbons
with total capacity 4,000,000 Mt/year in three plants; two still in operation. From
1980s to present, Shell using F-T to convert natural gas to fuels and waxes in Bintulu,
Malaysia. From 1980s to present, a number of entrants into the fields, a number of
projects announced and planned (including demonstration projects), Qatar and Nigeria
have started design and construction on world scale GTL facilities. Oguejiofor
discussed some aspects of using GTL technology for reducing flare gas in Nigeria.
The main issue in Nigeria is to gather gas from more than 1000 wells by building gas
collection facilities at the oilfields and constructing an extensive pipeline network to
carry gas to an industrial facility where it turns into liquids for transportation. Gas
flaring in Nigeria was reduced from roughly 49.8 % in 2000 to fewer than 26 % in
2006 [22].
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A small scale simpler F-T processes can be deployed in small modular units to
process associated gas. The smallest potential plant evaluated by the study would
convert 2000 - 10000 MCF/day of gas into 200 - 1000 bbls/day of liquid products. A
novel catalyst using atomic layer deposition in small-scale mobile systems was
developed for convert low-value natural gas to high value synthetic crude oil (GTL).
A novel catalyst yields 2.5-times more synthetic crude with high conversion about 90
% and low methane selectivity for about 6 wt% than state-of-the-art catalysts for
GTL. Additionally, it is robust and has a low deactivation. Preliminary economic
assessments predict that the scaled-up 100 bbl/day process using 1 MMSCFD natural
gas, having a $5 MM - $7.5 MM total investment, would achieve a 15 - 30 % IRR at a
breakeven price of $20 - 75 per bbl depending on natural gas cost. However, flared
gas from the Farashband gas refinery in Iran is produced 563 bbl/day of valuable GTL
products from the 4.176 MMSCFD of gas flared by GTL production [22].
Rahimpour et. al. compared the performance of the two cascading membrane
dualtype reactors in the form of fluidized-bed and fixed-bed for F-T synthesis.
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According to the results, fluidized-bed reactor is superior to fixed-bed reactor for F-T
synthesis in GTL technology owing to achieving 5.3 % increase in the gasoline yield
and 12 % decrease in CO2 yield, in addition, excellent temperature control and a small
pressure drop and consequently higher gasoline yield and lower CO2 yield [22].
Power is a basic part of nature and it is one of the most widely used forms of
energy. It is as a secondary energy source, from the conversion of many sources of
energy such as coal, natural gas, oil, nuclear power and other natural sources. Natural
gas was produced about 16 % of the power. To be reduce the thermal emissions from
several industry, such as petrochemicals, industrial gases, synthetic organic fibers, and
agricultural chemicals, in which high-temperature exhaust is released that could be
recovered for power generation. The other method for FGRS is the conversion of flare
gas as a primary source into electricity. An electric power station uses a turbine,
engine, water wheel or other similar machines to drive an electric generator. A turbine
converts the kinetic energy of a moving fluid (liquid or gas) to mechanical energy.
Gas turbines are commonly used when power utility usage is at a high demand. Gas
flaring can be burned to produce hot combustion gase that pass directly through a
turbine, spinning the blades of the turbine to generate power. Electricity generation
with a gas turbine provides 25 MW electricity from the 4.176 MMSCFD of gas flared
from the Farashband gas refinery in Iran. Gas flaring can also be used to produce
electricity in gas-fired turbines called “micro-turbines”, to be an energy source to
provide power for industry operations, like pumping, compression machines and gas
processing. The electricity can even be sold, if they do not need all of it [22].
Two scenarios are described the electrical power generation by use of flared gas.
Gas turbine working in a simple Brayton cycle is a simulation of power generation in
the first scenario. In the second scenario, cooling inlet air of a simple cycle of gas
turbine by Fog method is added to improve the efficiency. Heydari et. al. compared
the two scenarios from both technical and economical point of view. The results
indicate that, the power generation has a better situation in the second scenario, but
the first one is more economically justified. The power generation in the first and
second scenario are 38.5 MW and 40.25 MW respectively, while payback periods are
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3.32 and 3.48 years. It should be also mentioned that, in order to increase the fuel
pressure from 6 bar to 23.7 bar, a compressor with an efficiency of 90 % is used [22].
There are other cycles to generate power. Steam Rankine Cycle (SRC), the most
commonly used system for power generation from waste heat involves using the heat
to generate steam in a waste heat boiler, which then drives a steam turbine. Steam
turbines are one of the oldest and most versatile prime mover technologies. Organic
Rankin Cycles (ORC), other working fluids, with better efficiencies at lower heat
source temperatures, are used in ORC heat engines. ORCs use an organic working
fluid that has a lower boiling point, higher vapor pressure, higher molecular mass, and
higher mass flow compared to water. So, the turbine efficiencies of ORCs are higher
than in SRC. Additionally, ORC systems can be utilized for waste heat sources as low
as 148 ºC, whereas steam systems are limited to heat sources greater than 260 ºC.
ORCs have commonly been used to generate power in geothermal power plants, and
more recently, in pipeline compressor heat recovery applications [22].
Use of flared gas as a feed of fuel cell can be considered as a new approach to
FGRS. Fuel cells are power-generation systems that convert directly the chemical
energy of fuel to electricity. Among the various types of fuel cells, solid oxide fuel
cell (SOFC) is more efficient. SOFC is known as an environmental friendly power
generation technology. SOFC is a kind of fuel cell contains two porous electrodes,
which are separated by a nonporous oxide ion-conducting ceramic electrolyte. SOFC
operates at temperatures between 600 - 1000 ºC and uses H2 containing gas mixture as
a feed and O2 of air as an oxidant. The high operation temperature leads flexibility of
using various fuel types such as methane, methanol, ethanol, biogas etc. SOFC
technology reduces CO2 emission by about 55 %. Additionally, there are
approximately zero emissions of criteria pollutants (NOx, SOx, CO, particles and
organic compounds) and very low noise emission. Saidi et al. developed an
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electrochemical model for a steady state, planar SOFC by considering the direct
internal methane steam reforming for flare gas recovery of Asalouyeh gas processing
plant in Iran. In this configuration, there is no pre-reforming and the sweetened flare
gas is fed to SOFC directly. The using of this SOFC generates about 1200 MW
electrical energy, and decreases the equivalent mass of GHG emission from 1700 kg/s
to 68 kg/s. In addition, the total capital investment of this method is significantly
lower than other no gas flaring approaches [22].
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