Avaliação da viabilidade técnica e econômica da implementação de um sistema de recuperação de gases enviados para a tocha em uma unidade de processamento de gás natural

Abstract

Million cubic meters of gas are flared yearly in oil and natural gas processing units in Brazil, contributing to the global warming and energy waste, since the flared gas fraction still has a high energetic value. In order to minimize the flared gas volume, it is proposed and evaluated in this work, the implementation of a gas flare recovery system at a natural gas processing unit located at the southeast region in Brazil. The system consists into compressing and reprocessing the gas from the flare header, increasing the dry gas, LPG and natural gasoline production. For the system implementation it is necessary an initial investment of R$ 7.296.679,15, resulting in a NPV (Net Present Value) of R$ 9.457.319,48, a IRR (Internal Rate of Return) of 23% and a 6 years´ payback. Moreover, an emission reduction of 6.543 tCO2/year is estimated. It is also evaluated the possibility of registering the project as CDM (Clean Development Mechanism), being verified that is possible to obtain an extra annual revenue of R$ 153.858,86 with the commercialization of the CER´s (Certified Emission Reductions), increasing the system feasibility. After all, stands out that the flare gas recovery system in oil and gas processing units is attractive from both economic and environmental point of view, and should be evaluated for others processing units in Brazil, such as oil refineries and larger natural gas processing units, with processing flow higher than 10.000.000 m³/d.