A Novel, Nanostructured, Metal-organic Frameworks-Based Product Loss Prevention Technology in the Oil and Natural Gas Sector

To reach the end user, oil and gas production at the wellhead must be transmitted through the country and distributed to a wide range of customers. This logisticalsystem requires natural gas gathering lines, processing facilities,product storage tanks and Jots of other equipment. What results is air pollution caused by industry losses during these operations and the use of continuous or intermittentventing/flaring to mitigate other issues. One of the main components ofthis pollution is Volatile Organic Compounds (VOes), with the increasingpopularity of unconventional oil and natural gas production in the US, controls on voerelease have become increasingly important to maintain current health and safety standards.In the Phase I activity, framergy,in collaborationwith Texas A&M University,showed the feasibility of a combined methane and voecapture technology that can be used at well sites, natural gasgathering and processing facilities,storage tanks/ sites, and transmission facilitiesto reduce pollution. The Phase I resultsave shown that this technology is capable of separating, storing and recycling natural gas and voes. This innovation is a combination of VOe-11hilicsolvents and novel Metal-organicFrameworks (MOFs) adsorbentstargetedto capture awide range ofvolatileproducts andlight hydrocarbons before they arevented into the atmosphere.This technology is suitable as both a portable temporary or as a permanent installation, allowing for utilization on a wide range of Oil and Gas Sector facilitiessuch as: storage tank relief vents, process equipment vents such as glycoldehydrators, amine recovery systems, oil/condensat/ewater truck loading activities, deinventon:: and blowdown of towers/drums and otherproduction equipment, vent controls for compressor seal leaks or by-passevents, aswell as pipeline piggingoperations where products are either free vented to the atmosphere,combustedusing flares and other destructiondevices which typically do not operate at designed efficiencies, or VRU units which typically have significant operational downtime.