The vast scenario of emissions abatement solutions

A Baker Hughes NovaLT16 gas turbine. COMPRESSORtech2 talked to Ilaria Parrella, executive director of the Emissions Abatement division at Baker Hughes. Parrella’s division is dedicated to abatement solutions for the energy sector to reduce emissions and improve efficiency today, using innovative applications of existing technology. (Image: Baker Hughes)

Ilaria Parrella is executive director of the Emissions Abatement division at Baker Hughes. Parrella’s division is dedicated to abatement solutions for the energy sector to reduce emissions and improve efficiency today, using innovative applications of existing technology.

“There are four main types of emissions: flare, venting, fugitive, and combustion, and Baker Hughes takes an end-to-end, partnership approach to emissions abatement, with more than 40 mature solutions that address them across the entire oil and gas value chain,” said Parrella. “Our solutions include consulting through advisory services, digital tools, and actual emissions reduction technologies.”

One of the sectors Baker Hughes has been most active recently is refineries, where the company possesses a range of technologies to recover and repurpose flare gas.

“The project with SOCAR’s Heydar Aliyev oil refinery in Baku, Azerbaijan, which was announced at the last COP29, is a great example of our capabilities,” explained Parrella. “Baker Hughes will deliver an integrated gas recovery and hydrogen sulfide (H2S) removal system. The solution should allow recovery of flare gas equivalent up to 7 million Nm3 of methane per year, and further reduce CO2 emissions by up to 11,000 tons per year.”

This project will not only significantly reduce downstream flaring at the oil refinery but will also make it possible to recover the flare gas to be used as fuel within the refinery, improving efficiency and reducing consumption and operating costs.

One other Baker Hughes technology that contributes to emissions abatement is the Integrated Compressor Line (ICL). “This is one of our established product families, comprising an electric motor driven compressor with a compact design that is fully integrated into a single sealed casing, eliminating leakage, venting, and combustion emissions while reducing noise, maintenance, and the total cost of ownership. The ICL is enjoying very positive momentum in the market; one of our latest projects, and the largest for ICL so far, is the order from Dubai Petroleum Establishment (DPE) on behalf of the Dubai Supply Authority.”

Baker Hughes’ scope of supply includes 10 ICL units to be installed at Margham Gas storage facility in the Emirate of Dubai. Five units are for gas storage purposes and five are for dual-use injection boosting or gas export to the existing gas distribution system.

The project is expected to enhance the reliability of energy supply and support local decarbonization efforts in the Dubai Emirate.

“Digital solutions are also an important part of our path to emissions abatement,” said Parrella. “At Baker Hughes, we have a range of digital solutions to improve efficiency, measure, and reduce emissions – as well as real-time monitoring and quantification. As an example, Carbon Optimizer enables the reduction of fuel gas and CO2 emissions by leveraging data gathered through our iCenterTM data vault and combining it with control software to optimize the efficiency of the equipment at partial load. This, for example, helps us to verify the best operational point in compression trains and to make sure the components always work at the best possible efficiency. It is a solution that has been installed in several compressor trains already.”

In certain cases, where not possible to eliminate emissions, we can minimize them using technologies such as flare.IQ. This is another digital solution, comprised of hardware and software, which helps to monitor, reduce, and control emissions associated with flaring and covers everything from assisted flares in downstream petrochemical and refinery operations, all the way to flares associated with upstream operations.

“This technology also supports regulatory compliance in multiple markets and is aligned with international reporting standards, including within the framework of the methane policy of the European Union”, added Parrella.

“For example, bp has already voluntarily certified flare.IQ to report emissions at roughly 65 of its installations worldwide, in line with the Oil & Gas Methane Partnership 2.0 (OGMP 2.0), an international reporting framework by the United Nations Environment Program.”

Finally, Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS) is another focus area for Baker Hughes that supports the broader emissions abatement portfolio, and it has great potential for reducing CO2 in the atmosphere.

Parrella – a chemical engineer by degree and previous experience with CCUS technology within Baker Hughes – commented that these projects are very promising but also pose some challenges.

“We believe CCUS can play an important role in reducing emissions from existing energy and industrial assets and decarbonizing hard-to-abate sectors. There is no ‘one size fits all’ solution for combatting emissions, and a portfolio approach is required”.

“At Baker Hughes, this is how we approach all climate-technology solutions – from emissions abatement and CCUS to hydrogen, clean power, among others. We have a proven suite of technologies to reduce emissions today, and we are continuing to innovate and enhance our portfolio for the future”.

CCUS is for sure an area which is growing in interest and which deserves a much deeper analysis. It will be the focus of another article with a Baker Hughes’ expert that will appear in one of the coming issues of COMPRESSORtech2.