oa Flare Reduction Options and Simulation for the Qatari Oil and Gas Industry

Flaring and venting are two activities associated with oil and gas production. Qatar is a world leader in the production and exporting of liquid natural gas (LNG). Flaring is a combusting process used to dispose of natural gas (sweet, sour acid gas or otherwise other hydrocarbon vapors) through a vertical stack. Facilities in the oil and gas industry may routinely flare small volumes of natural gas that are technically difficult and uneconomic to conserve. It is estimated that flaring of gas associated with these industries is around 100 billion cubic meters per year worldwide; emitting around 400 million tones of CO2 and wasting 1600 Trillion Btu of energy each year. The reduction of flaring is gaining momentum globally and the Qatari industries are paying increased attention to this international focus on energy conservation and global climate change mitigation measures. The reduction of the volume of gas flared each year is an important issue for the gas industry for health, safety and environmental impacts, as well as conservation of energy resources.

Qatar Ministry of Environment (MoE) cap targets flaring rate to 0.3% of inlet feed gas, which is usually met in QG from the existing trains in operation today. However, sustaining the overall flaring rate within the 0.3% governmental target value will pose a new challenge with the commissioning and operation of the new “Mega Trains” which will produce the world largest amount of LNG in a one given facility. This paper will present an initial engineering feasibility study to explore the minimization of routine and non-routine flaring in the Qatari Gas industries by carrying out a flare reduction assessment study and simulation using FlareNet.