Wellsite greenhouse gas reduction and hydrogen production system and method

A system for reduction or elimination of environmentally harmful or greenhouse gases in situations in which gases comprised largely of gaseous hydrocarbons are flared or vented from an oil and gas well or chemical refinery, said system comprising:

• a chemical catalyst, composed of a surfactant and water, for reacting with methane to produce gases including hydrogen and carbon monoxide;
• a sequential arrangement of connected valves, hoses, lines, pipes and tanks assembled for conducting said chemical catalyst to flowing methane gas, said arrangement comprised of
• a storage tank for storing a supply of said chemical catalyst;
• a valve for regulating outflow of said chemical catalyst from said storage tank;
• a hose connected at a first, proximal end to said valve, and at a second, distal end to a pump, said hose utilized for flexibly conducting flow of said chemical catalyst to said pump with said pump for controllably advancing said chemical catalyst further downstream;
• a pump valve with attached pressure gauge, connected to said pump, said pump valve for regulating outflow of said chemical catalyst from said pump in the downstream direction;
• a high pressure hose connected at a first, proximal end to said pump valve, and connected at a second, distal end to a pressure relief valve, said high pressure hose for flexibly conducting flow of said chemical catalyst from said pump valve to said pressure relief valve, said pressure relief valve for relieving excess system pressure resulting from unexpected overpressure of gas emanating from a distally connected oil and gas well;
• a flow control valve connected to said pressure relief valve, said flow control valve for regulating further downstream flow of said chemical catalyst;
• a flow meter connected to said flow control valve, said flow meter for indicating rate of flow of said chemical catalyst;
• a back flow valve connected to said flow meter, said back flow valve for preventing unexpected gas flow from a distally connected oil and gas well from intruding further upstream into the system and causing potential damage;
• a plug valve connected to said back flow valve, said plug valve for providing a master shutoff preventing either downstream flow of said chemical catalyst or upstream flow of gas from a distally connected oil and gas well, with said shutoff being of particular utility for providing safety during system installation and maintenance and also in the event said back flow valve is overcome by flow in the upstream direction;
• a first atomizing nozzle connected to said plug valve, said first atomizing nozzle located within a gas separator tank for treating incoming gas, including incoming methane gas, and disposed proximally to the gas inlet opening of said gas separator tank, with said first atomizing nozzle for dispersing a wide-spraying fine mist of received chemical catalyst into a stream of said incoming methane gas in order to efficiently facilitate a reaction within an area of turbulent flow;
• a second atomizing nozzle connected to said plug valve, said second atomizing nozzle located within a gas separator tank and disposed proximally to the gas outlet opening of said gas separator tank, with said second atomizing nozzle for dispersing a wide-spraying fine mist of received chemical catalyst into a stream of outgoing gas, including residual, outgoing methane gas, in order to facilitate a reaction with said residual, outgoing methane gas as said stream of outgoing gas enters a line connecting the separator to a flare stack;
• and
• sensors capable of detecting the molecular composition of resultant gas following the reaction of said chemical catalyst with methane gas.

A method of reducing or eliminating environmentally harmful or greenhouse gases in situations in which gases comprised largely of gaseous hydrocarbons are flared or vented from an oil and gas well or chemical refinery, the method comprising the steps of:

• providing a chemical catalyst, composed of a surfactant and water, for reacting with methane to produce gases including hydrogen and carbon monoxide;
• providing a sequential arrangement of connected valves, hoses, lines, pipes and tanks assembled for conducting said chemical catalyst to flowing methane gas, said arrangement comprised of
• a storage tank for storing a supply of said chemical catalyst;
• a valve for regulating outflow of said chemical catalyst from said storage tank;
• a hose connected at a first, proximal end to said valve, and at a second, distal end to a pump, said hose utilized for flexibly conducting flow of said chemical catalyst to said pump with said pump for controllably advancing said chemical catalyst further downstream;
• a pump valve with attached pressure gauge, connected to said pump, said pump valve for regulating outflow of said chemical catalyst from said pump in the downstream direction;
• a high pressure hose connected at a first, proximal end to said pump valve, and connected at a second, distal end to a pressure relief valve, said high pressure hose for flexibly conducting flow of said chemical catalyst from said pump valve to said pressure relief valve, said pressure relief valve for relieving excess system pressure resulting from unexpected overpressure of gas emanating from a distally connected oil and gas well or chemical refinery;
• a flow control valve connected to said pressure relief valve, said flow control valve for regulating further downstream flow of said chemical catalyst;
• a flow meter connected to said flow control valve, said flow meter for indicating rate of flow of said chemical catalyst;
• a back flow valve connected to said flow meter, said back flow valve for preventing unexpected gas flow from a distally connected oil and gas well or chemical refinery from intruding further upstream into the system and causing potential damage;
• a plug valve connected to said back flow valve, said plug valve for providing a master shutoff preventing either downstream flow of said chemical catalyst or upstream flow of gas from a distally connected oil and gas well or chemical refinery, with said shutoff being of particular utility for providing safety during system installation and maintenance and also in the event said back flow valve is overcome by flow in the upstream direction;
• an atomizing nozzle connected to said plug valve, with said atomizing nozzle ported through and disposed within a pipe conducting flowing methane from a distally connected oil and gas well or chemical refinery to be flared or vented and with said atomizing nozzle for controllably spraying said chemical catalyst into said flowing methane;
• and
• providing sensors capable of detecting the molecular composition of resultant gas following the reaction of said chemical catalyst with said flowing methane;
• and
• deploying said sensors upstream of, or in proximity with, a flare of said gaseous hydrocarbons.