Track: Environmental Engineering

Abstract

Increased global flaring is a major source for greenhouse gas emission and airborne pollutants that have been proven difficult to mitigate. A promising way of reducing the flare is to convert it into a useful product or generate electricity. In this work, the feasibility study of converting flare gas to methanol is discussed. Aspen Hysys is incorporated to simulate a methanol plant with the help of feed stock data obtained from two oil fields. Economic Analysis is performed over the data to determine the total cost involved for production.  Payback period and net present value (NPV) are appraised according to different scenarios (1) Without considering an environmental tax and (2) With considering the environmental tax. A sensitivity analysis is deployed over economic and technical data. The results show that the flow rate and the methane percentage of input gas have a great influence on profitability of the plant. Increase in feed gas flow rate will increase the methanol production. This novel method reduces flare gas emission into the atmosphere. In addition, by considering environmental taxes the possibility of getting feasible economics becomes more realistic.