Assessing the GHG emissions footprints of newly ultra-sour gas developments in the Middle East region for electricity production

摘要

The Middle East is a hydrocarbon-rich region.Nonetheless,the majority of its natural gas reserves are ultra-sour in nature.Previously these resources were left untapped;but latest technology advances and growing energy security concerns have motivated the exploitation of such resources.Ultra-sour gas processing is particularly very energy intensive and generates noteworthy greenhouse gas(GHG)emissions during its whole lifecycle(e.g.,from well-extraction to grid transmission).This study aims to quantify in detail the ultra-sour gas well-to-electricity transmission GHG emissions in terms of per kilowatt hour(kWh)delivered.This is,the GHG emissions involved in delivering one kWh of electricity produced from ultra-sour gas.A mathematical model of a power generation infrastructure was developed in GAMS~R;whereas a simulation model for gas transportation and treatment was developed in ProMax~R.The two aforementioned models together with engineering principles were employed in the present study.The United Arab Emirates is considered as case study.The results indicate that GHG emissions associated with ultra-sour gas-based power averages 564 g C02 eq./kWh delivered.This is over 11% larger than average US conventional gas-based power.Likewise,gas processing and electricity production account for more than 92 % of the lifecycle emissions.