Researchers from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have developed a new way to capture methane gas, which is usually wasted through flaring at oil wells, for use as fuel or a chemical feedstock.
The researchers have found a way to use electricity, potentially from renewable sources located close to the well site, to capture and remotely convert methane into derivatives of methanol.
The resulting liquid can be made into automotive fuel or used as a precursor to a variety of chemical products.
MIT MIT chemistry professor Yogesh Surendranath said that the technology could lead to a relatively low-cost, on-site addition to existing wellhead operations.
The low-temperature electrochemical process developed by the researchers can continuously replenish a catalyst material allowing it to rapidly covert converting methane to liquid intermediate.
In traditional process, the conversion process requires very high operating temperatures and large, capital-intensive equipment.
Gas flaring is done at oil and gas production wells to protect the equipment from over-pressure and many gas wells burn methane.
According to the researchers, oil wells waste about 150 billion cubic meters of the gas every years and release 400 million tons of carbon dioxide, becoming significant contributor to global warming.
According to World Bank estimates, the methane wasted from global flaring amounts to equivalent to approximately one-fifth of US natural gas consumption.
Surendranath said that the usage of electricity to drive the methane conversion process opens up new opportunities for making the process more rapid, selective, and portable than existing methods.
“We can access catalysts that no one has observed before, because we’re generating them in a new way,” Surendranath added.
The research work is supported by the Italian energy firm Eni through the MIT Energy Initiative.
University of North Carolina chemistry assistant professor Jillian Dempsey, who was not involved in the research work said: “This work really stands out because it not only reports a new system for selective catalytic functionalization of methane to methanol precursors, but it includes detailed insight into how the system is able to carry out this selective chemistry.”
Image: MIT researchers develop new way to harness wasted methane which is otherwise wasted. Photo: courtesy of the researchers/Massachusetts Institute of Technology.