The amateur inventor Reodor Felgen, a character in the Norwegian stop-motion animated film Flåklypa Grand Prix, has captivated audiences around the world and provided the name for the Norwegian government’s prize for innovation, the Reodor Prize. The prize was first awarded in 1994, in a ceremony broadcast on national TV. Photo: Scanpix
“That was one of the greatest experiences of my life. I still have the bronze statue on my mantelpiece,” admits prizewinner Magne Bjørkhaug.
Sketched on a napkin
The invention he developed together with two StatoilHydro colleagues, Thormod Hope and Jacob Lillesund, has really proved profitable. By extinguishing the flare booms on a number of platforms and onshore plants, the technology has reduced carbon dioxide emissions by more than 500,000 tonnes a year and made a profit of more than NOK 1 billion.
It all started in 1991 with a rough sketch drawn on a napkin. When their helicopter to Gullfaks was delayed, Mr Bjørkhaug and Mr Hope killed time by sketching a technical solution that would enable the flare booms in the North Sea to be shut down.
“We asked ourselves why all of this gas should be flared off when it could be sold instead,” says Mr Bjørkhaug.
Controlling underground forces
The flare boom on a platform is used to control the powerful forces deep under ground. If the pressure rises above the level the platform can handle, or if there is a problem with the processing plant, the hydrocarbons must be released into the open air and burned in a controlled manner. Emitting the gas without igniting it first is much more harmful to the environment.
The problem is that you never know when you will need the flare boom. Weeks can elapse without pressure relief being necessary. However, the need can arise suddenly, and, for safety’s sake, the flare booms have therefore remained lit at all times.
The alternative seemed complicated - the valve leading to the flare boom would have to be able to open quickly and automatically, at the same time as the gas at the top of the flare boom would have to ignite at the first attempt. But the three StatoilHydro colleagues’ invention solved both of these problems.
Spectacular method
Together with Techno Consult and a number of other companies, they developed the system, which is still in use both in Norway and abroad. Mr Bjørkhaug and Mr Hope went from stand to stand at the Offshore Northern Seas (ONS) exhibition in Stavanger to find a valve that could open quickly enough.
They also assembled a backup system comprising a thin metal sheet that would give way under high pressure. They then filled small “rockets” with the highly inflammable metal zirconium. They are launched automatically and explode at the top of the flare boom in a firework display of sparks.
More than just pushing paper
“It has been an incredibly exciting and challenging project to work on,” says Mr Bjørkhaug.
When Gullfaks A extinguished its flare boom in November 1994, it had cost NOK 96 million. After just two and a half years, StatoilHydro had saved the same amount in reduced carbon taxes. The value of the gas that could now be sold rather than burned came in addition.
Environmental awareness
So far, the system has worked for 14 years without any serious problems. It has been introduced on about 30 platforms on the Norwegian continental shelf, in the UK sector, in Azerbaijan and in Trinidad.
Increased awareness of the environmental hazards of flaring means that operators in several countries are now interested in the system.
Today, the technology is marketed by a company called Aibel.
Big potential
Although the technology has been in use since 1994, there is still a big potential for reducing costs and emissions. Norway is responsible for less than 0.5% of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions from flaring. However, the goup can contribute to reducing emissions in other parts of the world through the mechanisms in the Kyoto agreement. Qatar, one of the world’s biggest flare-burners, is among the countries that have shown interest in the technology.
"We have only just begun to scratch the surface. There is still a lot that remains to be done,” says Mr Bjørkhaug.
