At the end of 2021 the Rosneft-2030 Strategy: Reliable Energy and Global Energy Transition was approved. The key priorities of the new strategy are reduction of carbon footprint, operational leadership and increased efficiency. The implementation of the Company strategy will contribute to achieving the goals of the Strategy for Socio-Economic Development of the Russian Federation with Low Greenhouse Gas Emissions until 2050, the Paris Agreement on Climate, as well as 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals. In 2019 Rosneft also joined the initiative to reduce methane emissions and signed the Guidelines for the reduction of methane emissions in the natural gas supply chain. One of the horizons of the climate agenda is the reduction of methane emission intensity to less than 0.2% by 2030. Global anthropogenic methane emissions from the energy sector are estimated at 135 million tons, of which about 29% are from natural gas production, processing and transportation processes.
The article considers the results of the assessment of the possible potential to reduce methane emissions at oil and gas production facilities by optimizing the combustion mode of flares by using flareless combustion heads (heads of special design, heads with air supply in the combustion zone). The advantages and limitations of using flare heads of different designs for flareless gas combustion are presented. The methane emission forecast was calculated before and after the implementation of technological solutions for each flare unit. The results were ranked according to the minimum specific costs for the prevention of methane emissions of 1 ton of methane for a fixed period of the project implementation. Calculation of minimum unit costs allows to determine the list of priority flare units for their retrofitting with special design flare heads during the implementation of various scenarios. Generalization of the obtained data makes it possible to carry out quantitative assessment of methane emissions reduction due to using flare heads of special design, to determine priority objects for implementation of technical solutions, to prepare the basis for express-analysis of costs for their realization, to minimize costs due to application of typical solutions, to promptly determine the methane emissions reduction potential, including in changing macroeconomic conditions.
References
1. Crippa M. et al., CO2 emissions of all world countries, Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2022, DOI: 10.2760/07904
2. Crippa M. et al., Fossil CO2 emissions of all world countries, Luxembourg: European Commission, 2020, DOI:10.2760/143674
3. Climate change 2013: the physical science basis: Working Group I contribution to the Fifth assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change: edited by Stocker T. et al., Cambridge University Press, 2014.
4. Roy M., Edwards M.R., Trancik J.E., Methane mitigation timelines to inform energy technology evaluation, Environmental Research Letters, 2015, V. 10, no. 11, DOI: 10.1088/1748-9326/10/11/114024
5. Shindell D. et al., Simultaneously mitigating near-term climate change and improving human health and food security, Science, 2012, V. 335, no. 6065, pp. 183–189, DOI:10.1126/science.1210026
6. Global Methane Tracker 2022, International Energy Agency, 2022, URL: https://www.iea.org/reports/global-methane-tracker-2022/overview
8. URL: https://www.rosneft.ru/upload/site1/document_file/Rosneft_CSR2021_RUS.pdf
9. Sokrashchenie vybrosov metana. Rukovodstvo po peredovomu opytu produvki (Reducing methane emissions. Purge Best Practice Guide), Methane Guiding Principles, 2019. – https://methaneguidingprinciples.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Reducing-Methane-Emissions-Venting-G...
10. Zardoya A.R. et al., Review about emission reduction in oil extraction using low methane fuels in natural gas combustion engines, International Journal of Applied Sciences: Current and Future Research Trends, 2021, V. 12, no. 1, pp. 53-60.
11. Order of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology of the Russian Federation No. 371 dated 05.27.2022 “Ob utverzhdenii metodik po kolichestvennomu opredeleniyu ob"ema vybrosov parnikovykh gazov i ob’ema pogloshcheniy parnikovykh gazov” (On approval of methods for quantifying the volume of greenhouse gas emissions and the volume of greenhouse gas absorption)
12. Ahsan A. et al., Quantifying the carbon conversion efficiency and emission indices of a lab-scale natural gas flare with internal coflows of air or steam, Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science, 2019, V. 103, pp. 133–142, DOI:10.1016/j.expthermflusci.2019.01.013
13. Order of the State Committee of the Russian Federation for Environmental Protection of April 8, 1998 No. 199 “Metodika rascheta vybrosov vrednykh veshchestv v atmosferu pri szhiganii poputnogo neftyanogo gaza na fakel’nykh ustanovkakh” (Methodology for calculating emissions of harmful substances into the atmosphere from associated petroleum gas combustion at flares), URL: https://docs.cntd.ru/document/1200003953
14. Kang M. et al., Reducing methane emissions from abandoned oil and gas wells: Strategies and costs, Energy Policy, 2019, V. 132, pp. 594–601, DOI:10.1016/j.enpol.2019.05.045
