Frost Methane Labs Co. — Department of Energy SBIR Phase I: T

Description

Methane emissions are responsible for 20% of greenhouse gas warming. A proven, economical way of mitigating these emissions is to find high-flow methane sources and convert the methane stream into carbon dioxide, using flares or generators, mitigating 96% of the warming effects. We propose to develop a miniature methane flare, capable of handling emissions from sources in the range of 10-200 tonnes CH 4 /yr / site. At minimum, a micro-flare consists of a combustion chamber, pilot light or electronic ignition source, upstream flow and methane concentration monitoring, controls electronics, and remote communications. The project aims to have low capex and opex costs - necessary in order to allow developers to have good payback in the current carbon markets and for the technology to scale. We estimate that cumulatively, a micro-flare technology such as the one described could offset approximately 290 megatonnes of CO 2 e per year worldwide (from active and abandoned coal mines, unsealed oil and gas wells, natural geologic sources). This is about equivalent to removing 60 million cars from the road.