Sustainable Petroleum in Ghana (Urea Fertilizer Production)

ABSTRACT

Petroleum production causes a wide array of sustainability impacts, including a large share of global greenhouse gas and other emissions. It has also been associated with wider environmental and human rights impacts during drilling and refining, and occasional but destructive toxic releases from spills and accidents. This project aims at making petroleum production activities more environmentally sustainable, by finding a beneficial use of flared gases. Gas flaring is one of the top environmental challenges the world is facing nowadays, and Ghana is no exception.

Facts revealed that gases on our offshore platforms are flared monthly in large quantities because there aren’t many ways to make use of them. This activity causes health hazards by releasing harmful substances which cause greenhouse effects.

To address this problem, evaluations and research were made, and a much more useful and sustainable method was discussed. Our approach to curbing this unsustainable issue is to investigate the viability of using flared natural gas to produce urea fertilizer and also make an economic evaluation of its production in Ghana.

Books, journals, newspapers, and websites were consulted to broaden our knowledge of urea fertilizer production and the cost of production. Also, calls were made to some engineers and workers at companies in Ghana and America, so as to obtain updated information on the raw materials and mechanisms for the conversion of the immediate product to the final product, urea.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1. .............................................................................................................................7 1.1 ABSTRACT................................................................................................................7 1.2 INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................................8 1.3

PROBLEM STATEMENT .......................................................................................12

1.4 AIMS AND SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES ....................................................................12

CHAPTER 2. ...........................................................................................................................13

2.1 LITERATURE REVIEW..........................................................................................13

2.1.1 SUSTAINABLE AND NON-SUSTAINABLE TERMS..................................13

2.1.2 STAGES OF OIL AND GAS PRODUCTION PHASE AND ASSOCIATED ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS ...............................................................................15

2.1.3 INDUSTRIAL PRACTICES CURRENTLY TERMED “SUSTAINABLE PRACTICES” TO TACKLE THE ASSOCIATED CONSTRAINTS.............................17

CHAPTER 3. ...........................................................................................................................24

3.1 METHODOLOGY....................................................................................................24

3.1.1 INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................24

3.1.2 FEEDSTOCK ....................................................................................................24

3.1.3 DATA COLLECTION METHOD ....................................................................25

3.1.4 PROCESS DESCRIPTION ...............................................................................25

CHAPTER 4. ...........................................................................................................................39

4.1 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ...............................................................................39

4.1.1 INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................39

4.1.2 OVERVIEW OF THE RESEARCH .................................................................39

4.1.3 RESULTS AND ANALYSIS OF QUALITATIVE DATA..............................39

4.1.4 COMPARISON ANALYSIS OF EXPECTED AND IMPORTED UREA:.....47

4.1.5 ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: ................................................................................48

CHAPTER 5. ...........................................................................................................................50

5.1 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION........................................................50

5.1.1 INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................50

5.1.2 CONCLUSION..................................................................................................50

5.1.3 RECOMMENDATION .....................................................................................51

REFERENCES ........................................................................................................................53