NZEC's Hot, Clean Choice

It recently imported the modern North American technology, the first of its type in New Zealand, for the flaring associated with initial production flows from its onshore Taranaki Copper Moki oil and gas discovery in its Eltham exploration lease PEP 51150.

NZEC plans to import a second skid-mounted thermal oxidiser unit to help with hoped-for initial production flows from its recently spudded Waitapu-1 well and future planned wells in different parts of PEP 51150 and the adjoining Alton lease PEP 51151.

“These thermal oxidiser units are common in Canada, where flare pits are not allowed, but they are new to New Zealand,” NZEC general manager upstream Cliff Butchko told EnergyNewsBulletin at the site of the Copper Moki initial production facilities.

He said Canada had a number of fields where sour gas, containing hydrogen sulphide, had to be burnt high enough off the ground and at high enough temperatures to effectively destroy all contaminants.

While Taranaki has no sour gas, NZEC’s use of the high-technology thermal oxidiser means greater efficiencies, with 99.6% to 99.9% of all petroleum products burned, compared with perhaps only about 60% for flare pits.

NZEC’s oxidiser unit weighs about 1.6 tonnes, stands just over nine metres tall and is almost 2.5m wide at the top. Alberta-headquartered Total Combustion International designed and built the unit at a cost of about $C250,000 ($A246,400).

The thermal oxidiser is also more environmentally friendly, with no yellow or orange flames or black smoke that indicates all volatile organic compounds are not being totally destroyed.

With no easily visible flames, there is less noise and less visual impact, although the thermal oxidiser “lights up” at night.

Butchko said while there was a larger thermal oxidiser as part of the onshore production station facilities for the offshore Taranaki Kupe gas-condensate field that was a different beast.

It is certainly not portable and was designed differently, burning hotter to ensure the safe elimination of any of the “BTEX” range of compounds – benzene, toluene, ethyl benzene and xylene – encountered.

“Thermal oxidisers are an effective means of destroying gaseous wastes,” Butchko said.

“When designed with the proper temperature and retention times, and when operated in conjunction with state of the art gas clean-up systems, can meet the most demanding environmental regulations.”

Story courtesy of Energy News