eni

Direct access

Privileged access for all Eni clients, consumers' associations and journalists. Log in with your username and password to be re-directed to your profiled page

 
 

Staff access

If you are an eni employee and have the credentials to access the reserved area, click here.

INNOVATIONE & TECHNOLOGY

 
Click here to save this page
favorites print vote this page
save
facebook
Costruzione del tratto in acciaiaio dimostrativo X80 in Sicilia

Natural Gas Best Value



Natural gas resources that are not currently exploited are enormous. Enormous amounts of natural gas are ranked as marginal gas  (about 15% of the world known gas reserves) due to their distance from final markets or to their irrelevant dimensions, factors that do not allow to exploit them with current transport technologies.
Part of these resources, if associated to oil, is either flared or freed into the atmosphere (gas flaring/venting), having considerable environmental impact: according to satellite detections, over 150 billion cubic meters each year are dispersed into the atmosphere in this way.
The possible technological solutions  being studied or at a development stage are: transportation through high pressure pipeline, transportation in liquid form (LNG) or as compressed gas (CNG), liquid conversion at the well-head into other energy vectors such as electric power, hydrogen and other liquids (GtL).

 

  • Marginal GasMarginal Gas
  • TPI - Intermediate Pressure TransportTPI - Intermediate Pressure Transport
  • Gas-to-Liquids Gas-to-Liquids
  • Monitoring of offshore pipelinesMonitoring of offshore pipelines


LNG technology finds opportunity in fields of big dimensions (>135 billion cubic meters of natural gas) whereas CNG is best suited for smaller fields.

High potenzial of "marginal gas" 


 

Pilot section of a X100 steel pipe at Perdasdefogu (Sardinia )Eni is examining the potential and maturity of the Intermediate Pressure Transport option (TPI) that seems to have a shorter time to market than TAP technology (high pressure transport, still showing critical points). The TPI technology uses gas pressures around 10 MPa and pipelines in X80 steel.
The project started in 2008 with the production of the first grade X80 pipes by some world leading manufacturers. In 2009 other pipes have been bought and agreements have been signed for their welding.
Tests on a real scale simulating operating conditions have been started.

 

 

GtL pilot plant at Sannazzaro refineryThe Gas-to-Liquids (GtL ) project has allowed to develop a proprietary technology for GtL conversion. The GtL process transforms natural gas into distillates through three phases: synthesis gases (CO e H2) production, conversion of syngas into waxes  via Fischer-Tropsch reaction and conversion of the waxes into distillates.
The GtL technology has been developed through the construction of a 20 b/d capacity pilot plant at the Sannazzaro refinery. The plant has been in operation since 2001. In 2009 the life test for the industrial catalyst for Fischer-Tropsch synthesis was completed in the pilot plant at the Sannazaro refinery and also the design of a plant with 15 bbl/d capacity.

The availability of a proprietary technology for the conversion of natural gas to liquid fuels can give to Eni a leverage for the best exploitation of gas resources and the production of a high quality diesel cut (no heteroatoms,  no aromatics, high cetane number and high transparency).

Eni is developing a proprietary technology based on vibroacoustic systems (patent application filed) capable of detecting damage to underwater pipelines in real time. In 2009 a prototype has been installed at a gas import terminal.
A field test on an offshore pipeline confirmed the potential of this approach.

 

Pilot installation of the vibro-acoustic monitoring system at a gas import terminal.

Pilot installation of the vibro-acoustic monitoring system at a gas import terminal.

 

 

 




Downloadable documents

Last updated on 02/12/10