Hydrocarbon Processing - March 2022 - 20

Sustainability
pursuing multiple ways to reduce emissions.
Most have initially focused on invide
dramatic reduction in methane and
GHG emissions.
Many investors and stakeholders are actively demanding
that companies engage in ESG improvements and
publicly show their progress in key areas. Strong ESG
performance is rapidly transitioning from a differentiator
to a requirement for many corporations.
ternal processes, such as building/energy
improvements, improved manufacturing
efficiency and a reduction in manufacturing
waste and water usage. While these
methods certainly have a positive impact
on the environment, the most dramatic
environmental improvements come from
the development of new instrumentation
and controls, which enable oil and gas
companies to achieve their ESG goals in
a more effective and less costly way.
Membrane technology, automated
controls and advanced analytics have facilitated
the installation of hundreds of
biomethane processing and injection facilities
all over the world.
The falling cost and improved performance
of biogas processing units allow
landfills, chicken and pig farms, and
wastewater and food waste facilities to
profitably convert their GHG emissions
to market quality natural gas. The processes
required use anaerobic digesters
and self-contained biomethane processing/injection
skids.
Another enabler of significant GHG
emissions reduction are new designs in
valve actuation that allow natural gas-actuated
valves to be replaced with low and
even zero-emissions alternatives. Often
sold as retrofit kits, these relatively inexpensive
instrumentation upgrades proAdditionally,
some automation suppliers
offer a variety of low-bleed alternatives
for natural gas-powered instrumentation,
as well as very low power electrical
alternatives, which can run on the power
provided by small solar systems.
In many cases, the savings generated
from the reduced methane emissions,
reduced testing requirements and additional
natural gas production pay for the
instrument upgrade. All this equipment
meets the much more stringent methane
emissions regulations recently passed in
the U.S. and Canada.
Other recent product developments
include zero-leakage knife gate valves for
applications with hazardous materials,
along with significant improvements in
valve design and valve packing designs.
These design innovations help the industry
make significant strides in the reduction
of hazardous liquid and gas emissions
to the environment, even as they
reduce maintenance costs and improve
process efficiency.
Maximizing ESG progress through
collaboration. While both oil and
gas industry and automation suppliers
are making significant
strides
towards
achieving their environmental goals, best
progress often results from a collaboration
between these two groups. This is
already happening in some areas, with oil
and gas specialists working with
automation leaders to address
the most pressing challenges by
designing innovative methods
to address ESG issues.
Another area of collaboration
can be found in joint partnerships
between automation
leaders and universities. Automation
suppliers routinely
fund sustainability forums,
award grants and provide scholarships to
further research in a variety of environmental
fields. These efforts often result
in next generation instrumentation and
chemical processes, yielding significant
environmental improvements.
Act now. The demands from shareholders,
stakeholders, the U.S. SEC and
the public for improvements in ESG initiatives
are becoming insistent. Rather
than wait for new regulations to be issued,
most industry leaders are staying
ahead of the curve by defining their own
goals, tracking progress and publishing
results. There are multiple benefits to
this approach.
Improvements immediately benefit
society and the environment, but they
also allow a company to define its role
and choose the best path forward to
meet ESG goals. That option is almost
always preferable to having governmental
entities dictate goals and define required
methods.
The most successful outcome for our
planet results from collaboration between
industries. Oil and gas companies
may find it worthwhile to explain their
environmental goals and operational
challenges to their automation suppliers
so they can suggest specific solutions and
adjust product roadmaps. These types of
collaborative efforts are already underway,
with benefits being realized now,
and more to come in the near future.
BRUCE OFORI is the Sales
Development Manager for ESG
at Emerson for its flow controls
products. He works with customers
to help them achieve their emissions
and energy reduction targets.
Mr. Ofori earned a Bch degree
FIG. 1. Most oil and gas companies pursue a broad variety of methods to reduce
GHG generation and emissions.
20 MARCH 2022 | HydrocarbonProcessing.com
in chemical engineering from the Kwame Nkrumah
University of Science and Technology in Ghana, and
an MS degree in petroleum and gas engineering from
the University of Salford in Manchester, England.
http://www.HydrocarbonProcessing.com
Hydrocarbon Processing - March 2022

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