NREL assesses Greyrock's Flare-to-Fuels GHG reduction

6/21/2016

Engineers at the US Department of Energy's (DOE's) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have completed a lifecycle assessment to determine the greenhouse gas [GHG] reduction of Greyrock's Flare-to-Fuels process, which converts flare gas into transportation fuels, primarily premium diesel fuel.

"Based on our analysis, diesel from Greyrock's Flare-to-Fuels system has the potential to reduce GHG emissions significantly when compared to petroleum-derived diesel fuels," said Dr. Eric Tan, NREL senior engineer.

"Associated gas is often produced in connection with the production of crude oil, and these gases are burned (or flared) due to lack of equipment and infrastructure to capture and process this gas and to deliver it to markets for beneficial use. New technical solutions are allowing the industry to conserve this wasted energy resource while reducing emissions, such as CO2, methane and black soot created by burning these GHGs."

Earlier this year, Greyrock announced its Flare-to-Fuels system for the reduction or elimination of routine gas flaring. Using Greyrock's Direct Fuel Production technology, Flare-to-Fuels systems are designed to convert flared or vented gas into clean transportation fuels.

The World Bank estimates that approximately 140 Bcmy (approximately 5 Tcfy) of natural gas is flared resulting in the emission of more than 300 MMt of CO2 to the atmosphere.

If this same amount of flared gas was converted to clean fuel, it would result in the production of more than 18 Bgpy.