gas flaring
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Author(s):  
Mariapia Faruolo ◽  
Alfredo Falconieri ◽  
Nicola Genzano ◽  
Teodosio Lacava ◽  
Francesco Marchese ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  

Author(s):  
Keith A. Potts

Three significant changes have occurred in the winter climate in Europe recently: increased UK flooding; Iberian drought; and warmer temperatures north of the Alps. The literature links all three to a persistent, significant increase in sea level pressure over Southern Europe, the Mediterranean, Iberia and the Eastern Atlantic (SEMIEA) which changes the atmospheric circulation system: forcing cold fronts to the north away from Iberia; and creating a south westerly flow around the northern perimeter of the high-pressure region bringing warmer, moist air from the subtropical Atlantic to the UK and Europe which increases precipitation in the UK and raises the temperature in Europe. I use the Last Millennium Ensemble, MERRA-2 and Terra-NCEP data to demonstrate that the extreme, anthropogenic, West African aerosol Plume (WAP) which only exists from December to April perturbs the northern, regional Hadley Circulation creating the high pressure in the SEMIEA. I also show that the anthropogenic WAP has only existed in its extreme form in recent decades as the two major sources of the WAP aerosols: biomass burning; and gas flaring have both increased significantly since 1950 due to: a four-fold increase in population; and gas flaring rising from zero to 7.4 billion m3/annum and note that this time span coincides with the changes in the three elements of the winter climate of Europe. I also suggest that it may be possible to eliminate the WAP and return the winter climate of Europe to its natural state after the crucial first step of recognising the cause of the changes is taken.


Atmosphere ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. 1696
Author(s):  
Elena McDonald-Buller ◽  
Gary McGaughey ◽  
John Grant ◽  
Tejas Shah ◽  
Yosuke Kimura ◽  
...  

Mexico approved amendments to its constitution in December 2013 that initiated transformational changes to its energy sector. This study developed a 2016 bottom-up emissions inventory for volatile organic compounds (VOCs), nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur dioxide (SO2), carbon monoxide (CO), and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) from upstream and midstream sector sources, including onshore and offshore well sites, gas flaring, natural gas processing facilities, and natural gas compressor stations, throughout Mexican basins. Crude oil storage tanks at onshore oil well sites and venting and fugitive sources at offshore oil production sites were the primary sources of VOC emissions. Key contributions to NOx, CO, and PM2.5 emissions were from internal combustion engines at offshore oil well sites and midstream operations. SO2 emissions were associated with onshore and offshore gas flaring and boilers and process heaters at natural gas processing facilities. Application of the inventory with the Comprehensive Air Quality Model with Extensions (CAMx) indicated that oil and gas production operations could contribute to ozone and PM2.5 concentrations in Mexican and U.S. states under favorable transport patterns. This study provides a foundation for assessing the implications of Mexico’s future energy policies on emissions and domestic and cross-border air quality and public health.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olga B. Popovicheva ◽  
Nikolaos Evangeliou ◽  
Vasilii O. Kobelev ◽  
Marina A. Chichaeva ◽  
Konstantinos Eleftheriadis ◽  
...  

Abstract. As explained in the latest Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP) report released in early 2021, the Arctic has warmed three times more quickly than the planet as a whole, and faster than previously thought. The Siberian Arctic is of great interest largely because observations are sparse or largely lacking. A research aerosol station has been developed on the Bely Island, Kara Sea, in Western Siberia. Measurements of equivalent black carbon (EBC) concentrations were carried out at the “Island Bely” station continuously from August 2019 to November 2020. The source origin of the measured EBC, and the main contributing sources were assessed using atmospheric transport modelling coupled with the most updated emission inventories for anthropogenic and biomass burning sources of BC. The obtained BC climatology for BC during the period of measurements showed a seasonal variation comprising the highest concentrations between December and April (60 ± 92 ng/m3) and the lowest between June and September (18 ± 72 ng/m3), typical of the Arctic Haze seasonality reported elsewhere. When air masses arrived at the station through the biggest oil and gas extraction regions of Kazakhstan, Volga-Ural, Komi, Nenets and Western Siberia, BC contribution from gas flaring dominated over domestic, industrial, and traffic sectors, ranging from 47 to 68 %, with a maximum contribution in January. When air was transported from Europe during the cold season, emissions from transportation became important. Accordingly, shipping emissions increased due to the touristic cruise activities and the ice retreat in summertime. Biomass burning (BB) played the biggest role between April and October, contributing 81 % at maximum in June. Long-range transport of BB aerosols appear to induce large variability to the Absorption Ångström Exponent (AAE) with values ranging from 1.2 to 1.4. As regards to the continental contribution to surface BC at the “Island Bely” station, Russian emissions dominated during the whole year, while European and Asian emissions contributed up to 20 % in the cold period. Quantification of several pollution episodes showed an increasing trend in surface concentrations and frequency during the cold period as the station is directly in the Siberian gateway of the highest anthropogenic pollution to the Russian Arctic.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olga B. Popovicheva ◽  
Nikolaos Evangeliou ◽  
Vasilii O. Kobelev ◽  
Marina A. Chichaeva ◽  
Konstantinos Eleftheriadis ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohamed Ahmed Soliman ◽  
Samusideen A Salu ◽  
Abdullah Y Al-Aiderous ◽  
Nisar Ahmad Ansari ◽  
Khamis Al-Hajri ◽  
...  

Abstract Keeping pace with the rest of the world on reducing the greenhouse gas emission, Saudi Aramco embarked on an aggressive program to minimize or cut routine flaring and energy resources used in producing oil and gas through policies, standards and inhouse innovations. The innovative Unconventional Waste & Flare Gas Recovery System UFGRS has supported the corporate strategy to minimize or eliminate routine flaring with minimum CAPEX and OPEX. This paper present in detail the innovative Ejector Based Unconventional Waste/Flare Gas Recovery System (UFGRS) without using gas compressors. The objective of the project is to eliminate the hydrocarbon gas release to atmosphere for any upset flameout scenario from GOSP-A massive flare & relief system and continuously recover 1.825 Billion Standard Cubic Feet per year (1.825 BSCFY) of valuable purge gas with the lowest CAPEX and OPEX. Conventional Flare Gas Recovery System (FGRS) using gas compressors is the normal choice deployed in many facilities to recover the routine gas flaring but it was found to have high CAPEX and OPEX (maintenance, high power consumption & labor intensive) compared to the value of the recovered gas. Also, the compressors based FGRS is more complex and less reliable than the ejector (static) based FGRS. In addition, the innovative FGRS is capable of handling high turndown ratios compared to convention compressor based FGRS. Also, additional innovative parts of this idea is the integration with the existing compression system and the use of only static equipment like ejectors, pipes, valves and water seal drums to recover the waste/flare gas. The idea has very low operating cost compared to conventional flare gas recovery systems, apart from significant gas savings. The unconventional FGRS system was proven successfully in December 2020. The system is currently in operation for 8 months without any interruption and managed to eliminate the total design routine gas flaring rate of 1.825 BSCFY GOSP-A producing facilities. Also, the project resulted in reducing CO2 emission by 106,000 ton/year which positively contributed to the kingdom circular economy initiatives. To further enhance the ejector based FGRS, a US Patent No. 10,429,067 was granted in October 2019 to utilize the Ejector based FGRS concept for Emergency flare gas recovery. The innovative idea includes utilizing multiple ejectors in parallel with provision of different ejectors operating at different pressures that will allow the system to be used to recover flare gas over a range of different flow rates corresponding to different emergency release scenarios. Also, two new patents are under filing to utilize the liquid as motive fluid instead of the gas.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Majid Ismail Al Hammadi ◽  
Andreas Scheed ◽  
Hasan Alsabri ◽  
Hasan Al Ali ◽  
Yaqoub Al Obaidli ◽  
...  

Abstract Gas SIMOPS is a concurrent execution of two or more activities at same time, i.e., Drilling Operation, Oil Production & Gas Injection on an offshore wellhead tower thereby ensuring uninterrupted oil production and continuous reservoir pressure management from gas injection. The alternative to gas injection in this scenario was gas flaring, which has major environmental and financial impact. Considering continuous presence of personnel on drilling rig working over wellhead tower with high pressure gas injection; extensive Risk Analysis were conducted, and additional control/Mitigation measures were implemented. This initiative also contributed to the zero Gas flaring vision of the company by achieving a huge quantity of CO2 emission reduction. This successful Gas SIMOPS model is already being extended to other fields. To achieve this objective and keeping with 100% HSE, an in-house multi-disciplinary team collaborated and successfully executed Gas SIMOPS for the first time in UAE Offshore. Execution of Gas SIMOPS has brought major economic benefits to the company with additional Gas savings incurred.


Author(s):  
Francesco Facchinelli ◽  
Salvatore Eugenio Pappalardo ◽  
Giuseppe Della Fera ◽  
Edoardo Crescini ◽  
Daniele Codato ◽  
...  

Abstract In the Ecuadorian Amazon - one of Earth's last high-biodiversity wilderness areas and home to uncontacted indigenous populations – 50 years of widespread oil development is jeopardizing biodiversity and feeding environmental conflicts. In 2019, a campaign to eliminate oil-related gas flaring, led by Amazonian communities impacted by fossil fuel production, resulted in an injunction against the Ecuadoran Ministry of Energy and Non-Renewable Natural Resources and the Ministry of Environment and Water. On January 26, 2021 the Court of Nueva Loja issued a historical order to ban gas flaring in the Ecuadorian Amazon. The present Citizen Science project plaied an important role in this process, enabling the production of independent spatial information through participatory mapping with indigenous and farmer communities. Globally, lack of independent information about oil activities has led to the monitoring of gas flaring by satellite imagery, achieving remarkable results. However, apart from institutional and remotely sensed data, reliable spatial information on gas flaring in the Ecuadorian Amazon is not available. Therefore, we adopted the Community-Based Participatory Action Research approach to develop a Participatory GIS process, aiming both to provide reliable data and to support social campaigns for environmental and climate justice. This work presents the first participatory mapping initiative of gas flaring at a regional scale, carried out completely through open source data and software. Having identified 295 previously unmapped gas flaring sites through participatory mapping, we highlight that the extent of gas flaring activities is well beyond the official data provided by the Ecuadorian Ministry of Environment and NOAA Nightfire annual datasets, which map only 24% and 33% of the sites, respectively. 75 of the detected sites were in the Yasuní Biosphere Reserve. Moreover, 39 of the identified sites were venting instead of flaring, a phenomenon never before documented in the Ecuadorian Amazon. This study demonstrates that, because official datasets and satellite imagery underestimate the extent of gas flaring in the Ecuadorian Amazon, community-based mapping offers a promising alternative for producing trusted, community-based scientific data. This community-produced data can support campaigns for legal recognition of human rights and environmental justice in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Finally, this study shows how local environmental conflicts can foster policy transformations that promote climate justice.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (5) ◽  
pp. 59-64
Author(s):  
L. A. Nwaogu ◽  
◽  
G. O. C. Onyeze ◽  
R. N. Nwabueze ◽  
I. E. Adieze ◽  
...  

Gas flaring causes pollution to the environment and also affects the human organs such as the liver and kidneys. The present study seeks to investigate changes in liver, kidney function and atherogenic predictor indices of native women of Ebocha, Niger Delta, Nigeria who have over the years been chronically exposed to the persistent gas flaring in the area. Two hundred (200) healthy and freely consented women aged between 30 to 50 years were recruited; one hundred (100) from Ebocha and one hundred (100) from Uturu the control station. Results revealed that the values of serum activities of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate transferase (AST) alkaline phosphatase (ALP), and the concentrations of albumin and total protein were significantly (p<0.05) higher in Ebocha women when compared to values of women from Uturu. The pollution caused as a result of gas flaring did not affect the concentrations of bilirubin in women from both sites. However, serum creatinine, urea, K+, Na+, Cl- and HCO3-concentrations were significantly (p<0.05) higher in Ebocha women when compared to values for women from the control station. Ebocha women had significantly (p<0.05) reduced concentrations of serum triglyceride, total cholesterol and HDL cholesterol but significantly (p<0.05) increased LDL-cholesterol and atherogenic predictor indices in comparison with those from Uturu indicating that chronic gas flaring has negative effects on the liver, renal function, lipid profile and atherogenic predictor indices of women resident in Ebocha. Liver, kidney, atherogenic indices, gas flaring, women, Niger Delta.


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