POWER January 2021 - 42

ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
Environmental Legislation and
Stationary Gas Engines
As countries around the world set more stringent emissions standards, stationary
gas engine operators are often required to incorporate new technology into
their equipment. The changes can affect lubricants, so it's important to evaluate
all options.
Terry Veenstra
T
he 2015 Paris Agreement charted
a new course to tackle emissions,
and combined with evidence of pollutants
being on the rise, the net result is
swiftly imposed legislation to curb them.
Add into the mix consumer pressure
for industry and governments to demonstrate
their commitment to tackling
emissions directly resulting from human
activity, and it's no surprise that despite
their clean reputation, stationary gas engines
are increasingly subject to legislative
parameters. However, there is little
consistency from country to country.
Norway uses a carbon tax to curb
emissions,
while Mexico empowers
operators to choose how to achieve
facility-wide emissions reductions from
a centrally dictated baseline. Each approach
poses a tradeoff between
flexibility, compliance certainty, and environmental
impact.
As a global frontrunner in natural gas
production, Natural Resources Canada
continues to implement joint actions
with provinces and territories under
the Canadian Energy Strategy, and the
approach is bottom up-the rules are
enacted provincially and organized by
component or activity. They comprise
targeted site-specific interventions such
as replacing or controlling individual highemitting
components and inspecting
equipment for methane leaks.
The Alberta government in Western
Canada has been ahead of this curve,
having imposed new reporting and
monitoring requirements for sweet gas
processing plants in 1996, under environmental
health policy. The scale of the
province's output puts into context why
this was the case; Alberta alone produced
72% of the marketable natural gas
in Canada in 2017. The code of practice
requires operators to monitor and report
on nitrous oxide levels by each facility,
using several acceptable measures, one
being the U.S.'s Environmental Protec42
tion
Agency, which is a demonstration
of Canada's natural gas markets being
heavily integrated with those in the U.S.
Decisions for Operators
As demands on different states and provinces
grow to demonstrate their commitment
in tackling pollutants, an evolving
landscape of legislative tweaks in turn
requires operators to remain poised to
adapt to new requirements whilst running
efficient, profitable plants. Managing
emissions has been a long-term
concern for plant operators. Indeed, effective
control of resulting emissions is
crucial to efficient and sustainable running
of operations to ultimately protect
the bottom line. Legislative direction is
further incentive; not primary motivation.
Furthermore, controlling pollutants is
also not unique to either newer or older
engines. Incomplete combustion results
in carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide,
and the combustion process also
results in emissions of nitrous oxide or
sulfur dioxide. Faced with this challenge,
operators may take one of two routes;
to invest in new technologies to reduce
emissions, or to continue with traditional
engines that use catalytic converters.
Both require specialized maintenance
programs and regular intervention to mitigate
impacts on performance. Additionally,
both scenarios impact the stationary
gas engine oil and require several careful
considerations to be made.
Clean Technology
One result of such legislative drives is
an increased motivation to invest in new
technology to reduce emissions. In many
countries there are tax incentives to do
so, but equally there are several factors
to consider as they are not without their
associated challenges.
First, whilst newer engines burn hotter
and cleaner, rather than being emitted,
the resulting byproducts-sulfur
dioxide, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxwww.powermag.com
1.
Oil viscosity and sulfated ash levels are
important in achieving optimum engine performance.
The Wartsila engines shown here
were supplied with a formulation meeting
the highest industry standards, designed to
protect equipment even under severe stress
caused by fluctuating workloads. Courtesy:
Petro-Canada Lubricants
ide, and nitrous oxide-end up in the oil.
Forward-thinking lubricant companies,
such as Petro-Canada Lubricants, have
responded with ranges of tougher oils
to deal with the byproducts and avoid increased
downtime.
Second, cleaner emission oils are limited
by ash levels too. It is almost ironic
that while the detergent in the oil protects
the valves from wear and recession,
it's the detergent that can also
contribute to excessive ash buildup.
If the ash is allowed to build up in the
combustion chamber, it will eventually
get pulled down into the crankcase and
cause cylinder liner wear. As well, the
extremely hot operating temperatures
of these engines means the very hot oil
will start to oxidize or nitrate early. These
oxidation and nitration byproducts will
shorten the lifespan of the oil, in turn
meaning more changes and downtime.
Lubricant companies are under pressure
to develop oils that can withstand the nitration
and oxidation.
Catalytic Converters
Selecting the correct oil remains imporPOWER
| January 2021
http://www.powermag.com
POWER January 2021

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