| Project Detail |
REMEDY (Reducing Emissions of Methane Every Day of the Year) aims to reduce methane emissions from three sources in the oil, gas, and coal value chains: (1) exhaust from 50,000 natural gas-fired lean-burn engines used to drive compressors, generate electricity, and increasingly repower ships, (2) the estimated 300,000 flares required for safe operation of oil and gas facilities, and (3) coal mine ventilation of air and methane exhausted from 250 operating underground mines. These sources are responsible for at least 10% of U.S. anthropogenic methane emissions. Reducing emissions of methane, which has a high greenhouse gas warming potential, will ameliorate climate change. The intent is to de-risk and identify economies of scale for the proposed systems so they can advance to commercialization.
Project Innovation + Advantages:
Texas Engineering Experiment Station (TEES) seeks to reduce methane emissions from compressor station natural gas (NG) engines by improving lean-burn operation, thereby reducing exhaust methane and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and maintaining low-criteria pollutant emissions. The project team will develop a nanosecond non-thermal plasma-based ignition system capable of generating radicals, ions, and highly reactive intermediate species that result in rapid self-sustaining combustion, and a cyclic combustion control strategy that predicts and mitigates partial-fire and misfire cycles. The proposed work will demonstrate a field-tested, prototype plasma ignition system and model-based, feed-forward combustion control system that would be transformative for large NG engines with potential for large-scale market adoption. The proposed concept with plasma ignition reduces methane emissions through the use of very lean fuel-air mixtures, hitherto a challenge with spark ignition. Due to improved lean burn operation, CO2 emissions will also be lowered.
Potential Impact:
REMEDY addresses methane emissions from domestic oil, gas, and coal value chains, accounting for 78% of U.S. primary energy. |
