Gas flaring in phases 17 and 18 of the giant South Pars Gas Field in the Persian Gulf has reduced by 50% to help preserve the environment, head of South Pars’s seventh refinery said.
“With the launch of the first off-gas compressor, gas flaring in the two phases has been cut by 50%,” Hassan Asadi was quoted as saying by IRNA.
Off-gases from refineries often contain components such as diolefins, olefins, CO2, CO, hydrocarbons, H2S, and various organic sulfur species – all of which are harmful to the environment and subject to increasingly stricter regulations.
An off-gas compressor converts low-value refinery off-gases into a low-cost petrochemical feedstock by recovering significant amounts of valuable hydrocarbons that would otherwise be burned.
Asadi said more of such compressors will become operational soon to help cut flaring.
Gas flaring refers to the combustion of associated petroleum gas generated during various processes including oil and gas recovery and petrochemical process.
Flaring is an important safety measure at oil and gas production sites, as it prevents industrial plant equipment from over-pressuring and exploding. However, burning high levels of APG is a major source of pollution.
The Tehran government is obliged to curb flaring of natural gas to 10% and lower by 2021 as per a law passed in 2017.
Iran has prevented the flaring of 12 billion cubic meters of APG, a source of global warming and a waste of valuable fuel, since 2008.
Despite the measures, Iran has the highest rate of energy waste in the form of APG in the Middle East.
Sulfur Recovery Units
Another environmental program planned for this year in phases 17 and 18 calls for increasing sulfur recovery units.
A SRU significantly reduces pollution from refineries and is environmental friendly. The units turn hydrogen sulfide into useful material, reduce power consumption, and have economic benefit.
Most of the sulfur produced by refineries is sold to the petrochemical firms where it is used to make sulfuric acid. Processing high-sulfur natural gas is a big source of sulfur supply.
In addition to sweetening natural gas and separating gas condensates, SP phases 17 and 18 produce methane, a chemical compound widely used in petrochemical industries as well as sulfur and ethane.
Each phase produce 50 million cubic meters of gas, 75,000 barrels of gas condensates and 400 tons of sulfur per day, as well as 1 million tons of ethane and more than one million tons of liquefied natural gas per annum.
South Pars is the world's largest gas field, shared between Iran and Qatar, covering an area of 3,700 square kilometers of Iran's territorial waters in the Persian Gulf. It adjoins Qatar’s North Field, which measures 6,000 square kilometers.
It has an estimated 51 trillion cubic meters of natural gas in place and 50 billion barrels of gas condensates.
Global Figures
According to a report by GlobalData Company, over 130 billion cubic meters of natural gas flaring took place globally in 2019.
The potential value of this gas can be as high as $24 billion if priced at the European gas benchmark.
Key countries in the world flared more than 100 billion cubic meters of natural gas last year, which constituted over $19 billion.
Some of the major oil-producing countries in the world, such as Iraq, Iran, Russia, the US, Venezuela, Nigeria, Libya, Indonesia, Angola and Algeria, are together responsible for over 80% of the associated gases flared globally in 2019.
The utilization of associated gas is one of the most effective means to reduce gas flaring and benefits both the upstream producers and the environment. Associated gas is used for re-injection into wells to enhance oil recovery, feedstock for petrochemical plants and for power generation.
