IMI : Creating value in Energy

Location:

Global

Division:

IMI Critical Engineering

Date:

12 June 2023

We are helping to reduce emissions in the oil and gas industry and exploring growth opportunities with new decarbonisation technologies.

One of the main goals of the Paris Agreement in 2015 was to scale up efforts to reduce carbon emissions and so limit global warming. It marked the beginning of the transition towards a net zero economy. Stopping climate change is a huge challenge and, to play its part, the oil and gas sector must reduce significantly its emissions. In the longer term there will be an acceleration in the shift to green energy across the globe. However, in the short to medium-term, the world will remain deeply reliant on oil and gas. So the sector needs to optimise its processes to operate as cleanly and efficiently as possible. We are working with our customers in the oil and gas industry to achieve this.

Low-carbon energy technologies such as renewables, nuclear and hydrogen already exist. The challenge is to find ways to make them a cost-effective alternative to hydrocarbons and we are exploring ways of doing this with our clients. We are making great progress, for example, in unlocking hydrogen's full commercial potential. By using our engineering expertise and by developing innovative green hydrogen systems that improve production yields, we are supporting our customers in building the hydrogen economy of tomorrow.

Cutting methane emissions to slow global warming

As oil and gas producers commercialise smaller fields in some of the world's most challenging locations, their need for critical component reliability is growing. We create Value Today by enhancing plant performance and enabling customers to extract oil and gas safely for transfer to downstream processes. Our products help protect people and assets by managing surge pressures and reducing leakage of greenhouse gases such as methane, a gas responsible for around 30% of the rise in global temperatures since the industrial revolution.

Customers use our market-leading valves and systems both at the point of extraction and for processes such as fluid catalytic cracking, which is part of the refining process to convert oil and gas into fuel products. We have deep expertise with a technology known as HIPPS - which stands for high-integrity pressure protection system. In an oil or gas field, a HIPPS skid automatically closes large valves within fractions of a second to protect downstream equipment and pipework. Without a HIPPS system, producers often resort to flaring - an inefficient method of burning off excess gas - which releases millions of metric tons of C02 and methane into the atmosphere every year. This is costly on all levels, including in terms of reputational risk, as companies come under increasing scrutiny over their emissions.

New markets where our expertise can support sustainable growth

Oil and gas will continue to be needed as a feedstock for valuable materials, such as plastics. However, innovation can help to decarbonise the downstream processes. Mindful of how the industry will look in five to 10 years' time, we are actively investigating opportunities in new technologies and markets within this space. Dutch research organisation TNO has installed our valves in a pilot plant for a revolutionary technique for industrial carbon capture. The process, known as sorption enhanced water gas shift (SEWGS) is exciting for two reasons - not only is it extremely efficient, it also creates blue hydrogen as a by-product, which can be further utilised as a base material or energy source.

Right now, there's considerable momentum behind hydrogen as a key component in the world's clean, secure energy future. The technologies are there to decarbonise our energy sources and industrial processes - the challenge is to bring down costs to be able to grow them at scale. We embrace our role in the global energy transition. It's hard to find a more compelling example of our purpose of contributing to a Better World.

A turnkey green hydrogen plant

Two British universities needed a low capex way to produce green hydrogen for their hydrogen research centres. We are providing both with an IMI VIVO Electrolyser, which enables customers to produce large quantities of green hydrogen from water electrolysis using renewable power, on site, in a set-up no bigger than a shipping container.

Key IMI VIVO PEMElectrolyser facts:

» The 500kW electrolyser makes use of advanced polymer electrolyte membrane electrolysis technology
» IMI can tailor the system to a customer's specification and serve as a field service partner for the lifetime of the plant
» The research centres will use it to develop sustainable aviation fuel and renewable fuel for future generations of ultra-low emissions vehicles

"We provide unique product solutions so our customers in the oil and gas industry can safely and efficiently manage extremely hazardous processes."

Maximilian Wuelfing
Global Business Development Director, Energy Tech & Downstream
IMI Critical Engineering

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