Abstract
This study describes the results of a “well-to-wheel” life cycle assessment (LCA) carried out to determine the potential greenhouse gas and criteria pollutant emission reductions that could be achieved by converting associated flare gas directly to synthetic fuels at oil wellheads in the US and globally. A Greyrock Flare Gas-to-Fuels™ conversion process at an Ohio oil well was used as the base case for this LCA. The liquid fuel produced directly from associated gas is comprised primarily of premium synthetic diesel with a small amount of synthetic gasoline. In this LCA scenario, the synthetic diesel and synthetic gasoline are blended at 20 and 10 vol% with petroleum diesel and gasoline, respectively. While the synthetic diesel fuel can be used as is (100%), the 20 vol% synthetic diesel blend (with petroleum diesel) was found to significantly improve engine performance, increase fuel economy, and reduce emissions. The direct conversion of associated gas to synthetic diesel fuels globally could reduce emissions of CO2 and CH4 by up to 356 and 5.96 million metric tons/year, respectively, resulting in the reduction of greenhouse gases (GHGs) by about 113.3 and 92.2% (20 year global warming potential) and 73.8 and 50.7% (100 year global warming potential) for synthetic diesel and gasoline fuels when compared to petroleum-derived gasoline fuels, respectively. Likewise, diesel criteria emissions could be reduced globally by up to 23.3, 0.374, 42.4, and 61.3 million metric tons/year globally for CO, particulates, NOx, and hydrocarbons, respectively. The potential economic benefit of this approach is that up to 5.30 and 71.1 billion liters of synthetic fuels could be produced each year in the US and globally from associated gas, respectively.
Highlights
Natural gas was first used by the Chinese in about 900 B.C.E. to evaporate seawater for salt production
The results of the WTW-life cycle assessment (LCA) from flared associated gas for the three scenarios; the volume of synthetic fuels that could be produced for these three scenarios; the reduction in emissions by converting this associated gas directly to synthetic fuels at the wellhead; and the reduction in vehicle emissions from using the synthetic fuels in diesel vehicles are described
This study establishes that the direct production of liquid synthetic fuels from associated flare gas at the wellhead can significantly reduce air emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) and criteria pollutants in the US and globally
Summary
Natural gas was first used by the Chinese in about 900 B.C.E. to evaporate seawater for salt production. The Chinese had developed more advanced techniques for tapping underground reservoirs of natural gas, which allowed them to drill wells as deep as 1460 m. Bissell and Drake found that large volumes of natural gas (NG) were co-produced when the crude oil was extracted from the ground. This NG has come to be commonly referred to as associated gas which is primarily comprised of methane with minor concentrations of C 2–C6 hydrocarbons, nitrogen, and some trace gases such as SO2. This combusted-associated gas is typically referred to as flare gas
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