Courtesy of Arab News & JPT, Volume 72, Issue 03
Flare gas monetization is normally hindered by two major challenges; Remote
locations and availability in small scattered locations. Flare gas has tremendous
uncaptured value that require unlocking by governments, operators and startups.
Some of the ideas to benefit from flare gas modular includes mini-facility solutions
such as small-scale gas-to-liquids (GTL), compressed natural gas (CNG) in a box,
portable liquified Natural Gas (LNG) or Natural Gas Liquids (NGL)units, all of which
make small quantities of flared gas able to be transported by truck. Also, new recent
initiatives globally were used to turn the flared gas into Bitcoin. Another idea is using
associated gas as feedstock for mini-power plants to power modular data centers.
Lastly, the flared gas can be utilized in the industrial boilers.
Monetization Strategies of Flare Gas
Case Studies:
- Power generation using reciprocating gas engines and Turbines.
Reciprocating gas engines provided by GE can handles variable gas composition
and flow with gas pressure ranges from 60 to 115 psig. GE gas engine practical
size ranges from 200kw to 2500 kw and can be modular or containerized. GE
flare gas turbines harvest flare gas from an oil processing plant that would be
otherwise flared into electricity. Also, Energy generators by Moser can handle
pressure as low as 5 psig and heating value ranges from 800 to 1800 btu/scf.
Generators size vary from 70 upto 1000 kw and can be fixed on trailer. - Mining of Digital Currencies:
Many startups are currently working on converting the flare gas into power to
mine digital currencies like Bitcoin such as Blue Marble Gas company that is
working on mining Bitcoin using flare gas. Blue Marble’s first project aimed at mitigating flaring will involve placing a power-generation and Bitcoin-mining system next to a gas pipeline.
Courtesy of JPT, Volume 72, Issue 03
- Power Generation Using Sterling Engine
Qnergy was formed in 2009 by a cryogenic cooling company to build Stirling engines
that are now powering a handful of well sites in the U.S. The company claims to be
the first to use the more than 200-year-old engine technology and to make electricity
affordable from flare gas. - Power Generation Using Fuel Cell:
Utility Global Company is gearing up to release a fuel cell technology that seeks to
make methane or CO2-powered fuel cells the most affordable option for electricity in
the oil field. Fuel cells are another not-so-new technology that is getting a fresh look.
Also originating in the 1800s, fuel cells have gained interest in the past decade for
their promise of cheap energy, but many of the commercial efforts have failed to
achieve scale and profitability. Utility Global is betting it can reverse this perception.
The startup is developing solid-oxideion chips, or fuel cells, which can utilize several
gases including both methane and CO2 . The Utility Global CEO claimed that most
current solid oxide fuel cell stacks cost more than $900/kW-hr while the new fuel cell
chips will generate electricity at a cost of less than $90/kW-hr. Within a few years,
the goal is to bring the cost below $9/kW-hr. These efficiency gains are partly the result of using electromagnetic sintering and an additive manufacturing, or 3D-printing, technique, to print and bond the components of the chips.
- Modular and skid mounted fractionation plants
Conversion of flare gas into liquid significantly increases the gas value and ease
transportation using compressed Natural Gas (CNG), Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG)
or mini-LNG. Modular, skid-mounted mechanical refrigeration-based plants (MRUs)
supplied by companies like Pioneer Energy can be used to monetize stranded and
flared gas streams, including associated gas, non-associated gas, and oil tank
gases. These modular units can produce on spec products like LPG, condensate,
light naphtha, and lean conditioned gas and are highly automated, which decreases
field installation and recurring labor costs. - Carbon-negative cloud computing platform:
Crusoe Energy developed Digital Flare Mitigation (DFM) systems that convert flared
natural gas into electricity to power energy-intensive computing right at the well site.
Crusoe is based in Denver, Colorado, and was founded in 2018 and has deployed
over 40 DFM data centers across some of North America’s most prolific oil and gas
basins including the Bakken, the Powder River, and the Denver-Julesburg. Crusoe
Energy Systems, Inc. is on a mission to eliminate the routine flaring of natural gas by
providing oil and gas companies with a fast, low cost and simple solution to stranded
gas. Crusoe solve the routine natural gas flaring issue by using the otherwise
wasted energy to power growing demand for computational power in the expanding
digital economy. - Carbon-negative cloud computing platform:
Crusoe Energy developed Digital Flare Mitigation (DFM) systems that convert flared
natural gas into electricity to power energy-intensive computing right at the well site.
Crusoe is based in Denver, Colorado, and was founded in 2018 and has deployed over
40 DFM data centers across some of North America’s most prolific oil and gas basins
including the Bakken, the Powder River, and the Denver-Julesburg. Crusoe Energy
Systems, Inc. is on a mission to eliminate the routine flaring of natural gas by providing
oil and gas companies with a fast, low cost and simple solution to stranded gas. Crusoe
solve the routine natural gas flaring issue by using the otherwise wasted energy to
power growing demand for computational power in the expanding digital economy.
Courtesy of google photo
- Small scale Modular Gas to Liquid Technologies
Major advantage of converting flare gas into Chemicals is the high value of chemical
products and the ease of transportation of these products. Emerging Fuels
Technology, CompactGTL, Bluescape and Greyrock and GasTechno developed
different GTL technologies that were claimed to economically produces high value
liquids such as gasoline, methanol, and Syncrude directly from flared gas. Their
technologies convert associated flare gas and stranded natural gas into high-value
fuels and chemicals. Small-scale GTL plants, highly flexible mini-GTL units and even
remotely controlled micro-GTL were developed and commercialized.
Conversion of (associated) gas to a liquid significantly increases the gas’ value and its ease of transport, but the chemical conversion process is obviously more expensive compared to other direct gas utilization options such as CNG or mini-LNG. However, it is the TOTAL cost from flare gas intake through processing and distribution to final use that determines the overall financial return. Most of the conversion technologies require no pre-processing of the gas other than to remove contaminants. In many cases, separation of higher hydrocarbons (LPG and condensate) creates valuable income streams in addition to the GTL product revenue.
