Gas flaring is dead, or is it? (0) comments
By Francis Onwumere and IK Anyanwu | Tuesday, March 10 2009 | Energy
  
 We find ourselves in a moment in history characterized by accelerated technological advancements in every sphere of life. Any nation's hope for survival must lie in its ability to manage its resources, in such a way as to enable it lasts and at the same time turning it into economically viable products.
This holds most true for Africa. Many nations in this vast continent boast of abundant natural resources, which unfortunately have become their bane, in most cases. The attitude thus far has been to rely solely on the resources for national income, forgetting that even natural resources do run out.
Take the case of petroleum-rich Nigeria which has been flaring natural gas for over two decades. All efforts to stop this blatant wastefulness have proved insufficient. Gas flaring continued in 2008 in defiance of the Nigerian government's warning that the act would not be tolerated. It appears however that where legislation has failed to stop this practice, necessity might prevail.
According to a recent report by Nigeria's Directorate of Petroleum Resources (DPR) the nation has just over fifty years of proven oil reserve remaining. This spells trouble in the future for a country that has oil as its major source of income and even more trouble in the present as companies who are in the oil business for the long haul will likely pitch their tent elsewhere. A real dilemma!
Natural gas can be found associated with oil or alone (non-associated). Nigeria's gas reserve is mainly of the associated type thus oil explorers have treated it as a by-product. The oil companies burn off the gas because they neither utilize nor recycle it. The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) says that about 40 percent of gas produced in the country - almost 23 billion cubic metres - is burned annually, making it the country that flares the most gas in the world.
The nature of natural gas makes it a difficult and expensive resource to manage, as it requires more demanding conditions of pressure, temperature, etc, for storage and transport. However a new technology is on course to making this impediment a thing of the past.
The technology is Gas-to Liquid (GTL) conversion.  GTL is an all encompassing term for a group of technologies that can create liquid synthetic fuels from a variety of feed-stocks thus making natural gas easier and less expensive to manage amongst other advantages.
Shell has pioneered the development of Gas to Liquids technology and has operated a medium scale GTL plant at Bintulu, Malaysia since 1993 that has current capacity of 14,700 bbl/day. With a decade of operating experience at the Bintulu plant, Shell technologists have the confidence to scale up to a world scale 140,000 bbl/day GTL plant planned to be operational in Qatar towards the end of the decade.
The basic technology behind the process was developed in the 1920s in Germany, and is known as the Fischer-Tropsch process after its inventors. In essence it uses catalytic reactions to synthesize complex hydrocarbons from simpler organic chemicals. This process can create identical liquids from a variety of feed-stocks, although the technical challenges are greater for biomass and coal.
Shell's proprietary GTL process, also known as Shell Middle Distillate Synthesis- SMDS, uses a much more active and selective catalyst than earlier processes, which enables the production of a range of finely tailored liquid fuels in a fully commercialised system. 
"The GTL liquid for a diesel car is simply a kind of diesel", -says Carl Mesters chief scientist for chemistry and catalysis for Shell, in an interview with EarthSky.org - "but I call it a completely different kind of liquid that is also suitable and has very neat advantages in a diesel engine. But another important thing is the sulphur content, Sulphur content in this gas to liquid product is virtually zero. So if there is no sulphur or almost virtually zero sulphur."
Also the polyaromatic level in the fuel is virtually zero. I should say extremely low- compared to the diesel that you produce from a crude oil. And that gives the fuel a much leaner burning, less particulate matter; so you can imagine that in areas where the cleanliness of the fuel, the environmental issues are a concern that this product has indeed -because of these properties- has more value."[see advantages: Clogging the wheels of Cancer ]
Trials are currently underway for swift adoption and commercialisation of this technology that promises better engine efficiency, lower emissions, cheaper fuels and best use of oil resources.
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