Answering the burning question of our time

Save to read list Published by Poppy Clements, Editorial Assistant Hydrocarbon Engineering, Tuesday, 29 August 2023 12:00

Tackling global warming will mean persuading the world to abandon oil, coal and gas reserves worth many trillions of dollars. The burning question is whether that can be done. Will we wake up to the threat in time? What can we do to slow the rate of global warming? What mix of politics, psychology, economics and technology might be required to slow its march?

Climate change is one of history’s most fascinating scientific, political and social puzzles. Carbon emissions are still accelerating upwards, following an exponential curve that goes back centuries, and one reason for this is that reductions in one place lead to increases elsewhere.

The search for low-carbon fuels, the impact of shale gas, the prospect of finite reserves, and the global political realities of the competing demands of oil-importing and oil-exporting countries make the sector high risk, but the economic rewards can be hugely lucrative.

As with everything in life, evolution is constant, and the gas detection industry is no different. Looking back to the industry’s origins 65 years ago, the first groundbreaking devices were developed to highlight how much things have changed. Not only has product innovation changed, but there has also been a massive evolution in the marketplace itself.

The price and performance of devices are following a trajectory that places technology in the hands of those who need it most. It is for this reason that Umicore Coatings Services’ infrared (IR) filters are used by a selection of the industry’s major players, helping customers to meet their health, safety and sustainability goals.

If the world is to come anywhere near to meeting its climate change goals, the oil and gas industry will have to play a big part. The industry’s operations account for 9% of all human-made greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and the fuels that are produced create another 33% of global emissions. The magnitude of this challenge underscores the difficult reality of having to operate, maintain and invest in old, diminishing oil and gas assets before eventually phasing some of them out.

Every day, tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2), methane, nitrous oxides (NOx) and other unnoticed emissions leak into the atmosphere, untracked and unmeasured – but not without impact. According to The World Bank, the global economy loses more than US$8 trillion annually1, but action to identify its presence and catalogue its make-up and levels still lags.

Integrating IR optical filters into a gas detection and analysis system enables any business to identify and monitor leaks of any size to help build a comprehensive emissions profile. This technology has placed manufacturing industries on the verge of a data-driven revolution, one where data sharing will enable manufacturers to establish a carbon emissions baseline and provide the foundation for initiatives to decarbonise production operations. Worldwide, oil and gas companies squander at least 210 billion m3 of natural gas yearly through leaks, flaring, and other sources that emit methane, a potent climate pollutant, into the atmosphere.

When countries are worried about keeping homes warm and lights on, plugging leaks and stopping gas waste is low-hanging fruit – a quick and cheap option for filling some of the energy gaps created by the loss of Russian gas. The good news is that technology capabilities now feature the ability to evaluate a greater number of wells and pipelines more frequently, and optimise or restore their production or transportation more successfully, becoming one of the more lucrative return on investment (ROI) activities for operating companies. Capturing the mind-boggling amount of methane wasted each year across the oil and gas industry would mean progress for both the climate and energy crises.

The first challenge is the complexity of the system. Hundreds of thousands of pieces of equipment owned by various companies attempt to detect an invisible gas seeping out of a loose valve or compressor upstream. It is little wonder that many emissions go unnoticed by operators. Routine operations in the oil and gas sector produce emissions from different environments and sources. To repair a pipeline, the gas must be turned off and the pressure must be let out, temporarily increasing emissions. These expected emissions are less of a problem; it is the unexpected emissions that need to be reduced.

Businesses extracting gas to sell do not want to vent that product into the atmosphere. On top of that, there is intense regulatory pressure, with most governments looking to reduce GHG emissions. The degree to which both shareholder and public pressure have also driven companies to think about and reduce their emissions as much as possible cannot be understated.

In the past, companies and regulatory bodies have relied on ‘bottom up’ or ‘engineering-based’ estimates, which factor in the number of components in the field. However, recent technological advances have led to a more advanced approach: measuring concentrations of GHGs in the air, and then inverting for emissions. A number of companies are still using the bottom up approach, but are trying to figure out the best technologies to supplement that.

Other technologies work better in different areas. Ground-based networks of sensors, and mobile sensors on vehicles or drones, can carry different instruments around a site, and using IR detectors is industry standard – and for a good reason.

The most important area to focus on is identifying easily solvable high-emission events. This means that it is essential to have sub-monitoring for upset conditions that are not planned. People are deploying different technologies to help with this process, and start-ups are experimenting with different methods.

The largest and most cost-effective opportunities are in the oil and gas sector. This is because fixing leaks can be as simple as tightening a valve, replacing a gasket, or tuning an engine. The challenge is not fixing but rather finding the leaks. Thankfully, the ability to detect methane has rapidly advanced in recent years. There are handheld instruments as well as sensors on aircraft and drones, and now there are some satellites orbiting to specifically detect methane. With these tools, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has found that we could cut global methane emissions from oil and gas operations by 75% with existing technologies.

This article was originally published in the August 2023 issue of Hydrocarbon Engineering magazine. To read the full article, sign in or register for a free subscription.

Written by Mark Naples, Umicore Coating Services Ltd.

Read the article online at: https://www.hydrocarbonengineering.com/special-reports/29082023/answering-the-burning-question-of-our-time/

The US is set to contribute 46% of the total LNG liquefaction capacity additions between 2023 and 2027, reports GlobalData.

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