Post By Joshua S A
The world is changing at a fast pace. The demand for Power and Energy is increasing even faster than
before. As Oil & Gas and other Fossil Fuels are still a major portion of the Energy Mix in the world,
especially in developing countries, the increased use of Fossil Fuels and its resultant Effluent Gases and
other harmful fluids are a major threat to the Environment.
This puts more pressure on the key players to find out how to balance both —The Demand for Energy
and adopt responsible countermeasures to save the Environment.
With the increased global awareness of the issues of Pollution which are very visible to all now, Oil & Gas
sector companies are adopting (many have adopted already) new innovative technologies to solve the
Environmental Pollution problems.
Let’s see what are some of the modern trends in Environment Protection Technologies adopted by the
Oil/Gas and Power industry in their Process to provide Sustainable Energy’.
Following are some of the most widely adopted Environmental Protection Solutions.
Better we startfrom the upstream area going down through the Processing and Power Gen to the End
users.
Exploration.
I was going to start from the Drilling but could not bypass Exploration as many innovative Technologies
are being used in the Exploration especially Modern Seismic Surveys Technology and Land Surveys by
Drones. This has increased the Efficiency, reduced the cost, and considerably reduced the surface use of
many machines and vehicles that were used in the Survey process of the oil and Gas Exploration Blocks.
This innovation in the Oilfield Surveys being the first in the upstream activities cannot be neglected in
the list of environment-saving technologies.
Modern Drilling Technologies:
Directional Drilling and Hydraulic Fracturing along with other such advancements, due to their precise
results in drilling activities have increased the extraction outputs, minimized the number of drilled wells,
and also decreased their required activities on the surface hence reducing pollutant/disruptive results.
Modern Extraction Technologies:
SAGD (Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage) iS another modern Technology that has been adopted by Oil
companies in Oil Sands and Bitumen Sands reservoirs.
EOR (Enhanced Oil Recovery)
Thermal Recovery: The use of heat like the Injection of Steam into the Reservoir that makes the viscous
heavy oils thinner to flow to the reservoir and up to the surface wells. This Technology is widely used in
the US.
C02 Injection:
Enhanced Oil Recovery through Injection of C02 into the system. C02 gas pushes the Oil in the reservoir
to the surface thus enhancing the
Injection of Chemicals:
Injection of Chemicals into the system is also one of the Oil Recovery enhancement techniques. But not
being used widely.
Steam Injection and C02 Injection are in use widely for Enhanced Oil Recovery but Chemical Injection
and other such new technologies are not being adopted due to the cost impact associated with them.
Carbon Capture and Storage Technology.
CCS or Carbon Capture and Storage Technology involves Capturing the C02 gas from the Effluent Gas of
Thermal Power Plants or other Oil and Gas Operations, and using them in Reservoir or storing it to be
used for other industrial purposes like in the Chemical and Petro Chemical Industry.
Optimization in Monitoring and Control Systems of Oil and Gas Processes:
Real-time monitoring of the Effluents of the Oil & Gas Process Industry and its Control also plays an
important role.
Now available are much improved Process Monitoring Systems that give insights into the actual real-time
status of the Effluents and any other pollutants in the process that can harm the environment. With this
real-time Process monitoring, it has become easier for the Plant Operating Engineers to control and
make necessary countermeasures in the Præess Operations.
Alternative Energy Sources.
Switching to Alternative Energy Sources is also a major step towards sustainable Energy generation.
Now Alternative Energy Sources ontribute a sizeable portion of the Energy Mix and increasingat a
higher pace, especially in developed countries.
Hybrid Energy Systems:
Now many Hybrid Technologies have successfully made their place in many areas of urban life, especially
in the automobile Industry.
The same is true of the use ofthe hybrid Energy system in the Heating and cooling of Residential and
Commercial Buildings/spaces.
In the Remote area, both Wind and Solar systems are in use along with conventional energyfor Oil Gas,
and other Remote Industrial operations.
Water Conservation and Reuse in Oil Gas Industry.
Produced Water Treatment and using it for the Oil Gas Facilities’ Operations is a major example and has
been in practice for many decades. The same is true of the Desalination Process and Membrane
Filtration System.
Optimized use of Water and Recycling is now already involved in the Oil Gas and Industrial Protess
Engineering Designs.
Reduced Drainages, Lesser use of Fresh Water, Recycling of Industrial Water and Water Treatment
systems all contribute a lot to saving the Environment.
Conclusion.
By adopting modern innovative technologies, Oil Gas and Povær companies can considerably reduce the
impact of operations on the environment. At the same time can also increase their productivity.
We all have a responsibility to save our planet and our fellow (Humans, Wild Life, Plants, Air,
Water, Weathers, Landscapes, Ecosystem).