a Kazakhstan plant removes enough emissions to power 32,000 homes

A Chevron initiative in Kazakhstan reduced enough stack carbon emissions—meaning those caused by steam boilers—from a processing plant by about 165,000 tons per year. The reduction is enough to power more than 32,000 U.S. homes for a year, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s greenhouse gas equivalencies calculator.

The approach was taken in the Tengiz Field, where innovation and collaboration helped power processing plants more efficiently.

The Tengiz Field, an enormous reservoir with a surface area more than four times the size of Paris, lies deep beneath the western Kazakhstan flatlands.

It and the Korolev field are being developed by Tengizchevroil, a joint venture which Chevron holds a 50% interest in. It ranks as the world’s deepest producing supergiant oil field.

Tengizchevroil’s Second-Generation Plant uses two power and steam generators to help process Tengiz production. The units previously operated cold air mode as it was considered the more reliable option, when compared to the more-efficient turbine exhaust gas mode.

A Chevron team suspected the plant could operate more efficiently and more cost effectively by switching both steam generators to turbine exhaust gas mode.

• Engineers spent years testing their theory by conducting numerous risk assessments and comparing improvements in both cold air and turbine gas exhaust generators.
• During the process, they identified mechanical issues that previously prevented the turbine gas exhaust mode from being more reliable.
• The results prompted the Tengiz crew to switch to the operational mode of both generators to turbine gas exhaust mode, beginning January 4, 2021.
• When we operate in turbine gas exhaust mode, we use less fuel and reduce carbon emissions.