Turn wasted flare gas into millions: a 40-ft plasma unit cracks methane into clean hydrogen, sellable carbon, and carbon credits — proof that waste fire can print cash.
Methane pyrolysis (a.k.a. “turquoise hydrogen”) — the engineer’s guide in plain English
1) What it is (chemistry first, English second)
Reaction (at its simplest):
CH4 ⟶ C(s)+2 H2\text{CH}_4 \;\longrightarrow\; \text{C(s)} + 2\,\text{H}_2
It’s endothermic (so you must add heat). The standard enthalpy is ≈ 74.8 kJ per mole of CH₄. That works out to ≈ 18.6 MJ of heat per kilogram of H₂ at the absolute thermodynamic minimum (real plants need more). (PNNL)
Mass balance (this never changes): From 16 g of methane you get 12 g solid carbon and 4 g hydrogen. Scale that up:
- 1 kg H₂ requires 4 kg CH₄ and produces 3 kg solid carbon.
- Per 1,000 standard cubic feet (MCF) of methane (≈ 28.3 m³), you’ll make ~4.7 kg H₂ and ~14.1 kg C. (At 60 °F, 1 scf ≈ 1.177 mol.)
Operating temperature: Without catalysts you typically need > 1,000 °C; with catalysts you can work ~500–900 °C (Ni on the low end, Fe a bit higher). Plasma and molten-metal reactors also run hot but can be very compact. (RSC Publishing, PMC, MDPI)
2) Why it’s a green answer for flare gas (and “wasted” emissions)
What a flare does: It burns methane to CO₂ and water. Properly tuned flares destroy ≥ 98% of hydrocarbons, but they still emit CO₂ and sometimes slip methane. (US EPA)
What pyrolysis does instead: It avoids forming CO₂ in the first place. You strip H₂ out of CH₄ and store the carbon as a solid. If your process heat is low-carbon (waste heat, renewables, or very efficient electric/plasma), your lifecycle emissions can be near-zero.
The math of “avoided CO₂” vs flaring:
If that methane would have been flared, every mole of CH₄ would have become one mole of CO₂. Put another way, per kilogram of H₂ you avoid ~11 kg of CO₂ (because 1 kg H₂ ↔ 4 kg CH₄ ↔ 11 kg CO₂ in a flare). This aligns with the ~10–12 kg CO₂/kg H₂ intensity of conventional hydrogen from natural gas (SMR) that pyrolysis sidesteps. (IEA)
Why this matters at scale: Global flaring jumped ~7% to 148 bcm in 2023 (and continued rising in 2024). Turning a slice of that into H₂ + solid C instead of CO₂ is a big lever. (World Bank, Midland Reporter-Telegram)
Canada/Western Canada policy reality (2025):
- BC & federal fuel charges: As of April 1, 2025, Ottawa zeroed the federal fuel charge, and BC eliminated its carbon tax. That means less “carbon-tax avoidance” revenue at the wellhead in BC, but… (Government of Canada, Province of British Columbia)
- Industrial compliance markets are still alive next door: Alberta’s TIER system lets regulated facilities use offsets/EPCs (with fund credits set at CAD 95/tCO₂e for 2025). Projects that reduce flaring or venting can sometimes generate credits if they meet protocol rules (e.g., Vent Gas Reduction). Details matter (additionality, monitoring, leakage). (ICAP, Open Alberta, Alberta.ca)
3) How you actually do it (mechanical + process views)
Common reactor families (you can mix & match):
- Fixed/Fluidized catalytic beds (Ni, Fe, carbon catalysts): lower temperature, watch for coking and deactivation, design for continuous carbon removal. (PMC)
- Molten media (e.g., molten tin/salts): methane bubbles through a hot liquid; great heat transfer and easy carbon skimming. (ScienceDirect)
- Thermal plasma / Kværner-style: very compact, very hot, fast kinetics, proven for carbon black + H₂. (Wikipedia)
Front-end clean-up for flare gas:
Associated gas isn’t pure CH₄. You’ll typically need knockouts, compression, dehydration, H₂S removal, and C₂+ control so the reactor sees a stable, clean feed. That’s skid-standard oil&gas equipment.
Back end:
- Hydrogen polishing via PSA or membranes → industrial-grade H₂.
- Carbon handling: continuous discharge to a silo, pelletizer, or bagging line. Decide your product: carbon black (elastomers, inks), graphitic carbon/synthetic graphite (after high-T treatment), or simply sequestered solid.
Going from carbon black to battery-grade graphite:
Most carbons must be graphitized at ~2,800–3,000 °C (sometimes with catalysts ≈ 2,600 °C) to achieve the crystallinity battery anodes demand. That is energy-intensive, but it can convert “waste carbon” into a premium product line. (ScienceDirect, American Chemical Society Publications)
Proof that this isn’t sci-fi:
4) Safety & control in one paragraph
You’re running hot, reducing atmospheres with hydrogen present. Engineer for inerting, leak detection, flare/vent failsafes, dust management (carbon dust is combustible), API piping, pressure relief, and robust start-up/shutdown sequences like any high-T reforming unit.
5) The business case — per gram, per MCF, and with credits
Stoichiometry cheat-sheet
- Per gram of H₂ made: you consumed 4 g CH₄ and co-produced 3 g solid C.
- Per scf of CH₄: ≈ 4.71 g H₂ and 14.12 g C.
- Per MCF: ≈ 4.71 kg H₂ and 14.12 kg C (pure-methane basis).
Revenue knobs (conservative 2025 snapshots & reputable ranges)
- Hydrogen selling price (industrial): highly regional; clean-H₂ roadmaps target $1–2/kg long-term; spot industrial values often $2–6/kg today depending on purity/delivery. (DOE’s “Hydrogen Shot” anchors the $1/kg ambition; recent TEAs for pyrolysis show ≈ $1.3–1.5/kg possible under favorable inputs.) Per gram: $0.002–0.006. (The Department of Energy's Energy.gov, MDPI)
- Carbon product price:
- Carbon black (commodity): ~$1.2–2.3/kg (North America 2024–2025 ranges). Per gram: $0.0012–0.0023. (Intratec, IMARC Group, businessanalytiq)
- Battery-grade synthetic/graphitic anode material (after graphitization/purification): indicative ~$2.4–4.5/kg spot bands in 2025, with big regional variance. Per gram: $0.0024–0.0045. (Benchmark/Metal.com spot dashboards & market notes.) (Metal, Benchmark Source)
Plain-English example (commodity carbon black):
1 gram of H₂ at $3/kg earns $0.003. Its co-product 3 grams of carbon at $1.8/kg adds ~$0.0054. Total ≈ $0.0084 per gram of H₂ before OPEX/CAPEX/energy.
here’s the line-item breakdown in CAD for a 0.25 MMSCFD plasma methane-pyrolysis container (90% uptime ≈ 330 days):
Daily Revenue (CAD)
- Hydrogen: $3,186 – $9,558/day
- Carbon (carbon black): $5,719 – $10,961/day
- Carbon credits (Alberta TIER @ $95/tCO₂e): $1,233/day
Total range: ~$10,100 – $21,750/day
Annual Revenue (CAD, 330 days)
- Hydrogen: $1.05 – $3.15 million/year
- Carbon (carbon black): $1.89 – $3.62 million/year
- Carbon credits: ~$0.41 million/year
Total range: ~$3.35 – $7.18 million/year
1. What “0.25 MMSCFD” really means in engineering terms
- 0.25 million standard cubic feet per day (MMSCFD) = 7,080 Nm³/day = ~295 Nm³/hour.
- That’s roughly 8,300 liters per minute of methane at standard conditions.
In process plant terms:
- That’s a modest flow. A single mid-sized reformer tube or catalytic reactor can easily handle that.
- In a 40-ft container, with compact reactor design (plasma torch, molten bath, or packed bed), this is within reason.
2. Comparison to known containerized units
- Gas processing skids (dehydration, compression, H₂S removal) in 40-ft ISO frames routinely handle 1–5 MMSCFD of natural gas.
- SMR hydrogen skids (small reformers) in container format often process 0.2–1.0 MMSCFD for onsite H₂ supply.
- Plasma systems like the Kværner process pilot units have already proven flows in this ballpark.
So 0.25 MMSCFD is realistic for a containerized plasma pyrolysis skid.
- 0.5 MMSCFD could be feasible with aggressive heat integration and smart solids handling.
- 0.75–1.0 MMSCFD in one 40-ft container starts to push practical limits (heat duty, carbon removal, safety spacing). You’d likely modularize into 2+ containers at that point.
Carbon credit/avoidance value (don’t double count; depends on where/how you operate)
- If the baseline was flaring: ~11 kg CO₂ avoided per kg H₂. Under Alberta TIER, if your project qualifies as an offset/credit generator and you can sell at values near compliance alternatives (CAD 95/t in 2025 fund price; market trades vary), then credit value ≈ $1.0/kg H₂ (CAD) before fees. Per gram H₂: ≈ $0.001. (Eligibility, baselines, measurement, and who claims the reduction are decisive.) (ICAP)
- If the baseline was venting (rare/regulated in Canada, but relevant elsewhere): methane’s 100-yr GWP is ≈ 28–34; the “credit per kg H₂” can be an order of magnitude higher, but many standards won’t allow you to claim venting as a baseline if flaring is required by law. Protocol choice is everything. (Alberta.ca)
Energy use (major cost lever)
Thermodynamic floor is ~18.6 MJ/kg H₂. Real-world thermal/plasma or molten-media systems typically land higher; LCOH is highly sensitive to electricity and gas prices, reactor uptime, and what your carbon sells for. Recent TEAs show competitive LCOH (~$1.3–1.5/kg) under low-cost gas and reasonable power. (MDPI)
6) Where methane pyrolysis fits in your flare-gas strategy
Use-case A: Micro-turquoise at the well pad.
You skid in gas cleanup + compact reactor + PSA + carbon hopper. You turn a liability (flaring) into two saleable products. Hydrogen can feed on-site power (engines/turbines/fuel cells) or a nearby user (e.g., upgrading, ammonia, blending), and you bag carbon for a tire/rubber or materials buyer—or graphitize at a regional hub for battery channels. (Molten-media or plasma systems shine here due to load-following and small footprints.) (ScienceDirect, MDPI)
Use-case B: Centralized hub.
Aggregate associated gas from multiple sites (pipe or CNG), run a larger, more efficient reactor, and sell spec-grade products (carbon black grades, graphitic powders). This model can justify a 2,800–3,000 °C graphitization train and full QA. (ScienceDirect)
7) Common pitfalls (so you can design around them)
- Carbon management: You must continuously remove carbon or you’ll choke the reactor/catalyst. Design robust solids handling (think ash or FCC style). (ScienceDirect)
- Feed variability: Flares can be intermittent; use buffering (line pack, storage) and controls to keep reactors hot and productive.
- Power source: If you heat with dirty power, you erode the emissions advantage; tie into low-carbon electricity or waste heat.
- Markets & specs: Carbon black buyers care about surface area, structure (DBP), ash, PAHs; battery anode buyers care about purity, crystallinity, PSD, tap density, reversible capacity.
- Credits integrity: Additionality/baseline are strict. Many protocols for flare-gas mitigation exist or are being finalized; pre-consult a verifier before baking credits into the pro-forma. (Verra)
8) “Explain it to my crew” version (no calculus)
- Imagine methane as a LEGO block with one carbon and four hydrogens.
- A normal flare burns the block into CO₂ smoke + water.
- Pyrolysis just pulls the hydrogens off and sets the carbon aside as a powder.
- You get clean fuel (H₂) and a solid carbon you can sell or store—and you skip the smoke.
- Do it on flare gas, and you’re literally turning waste fire into product.
9) Quick reference numbers you can keep on a napkin
- 1 kg H₂ ↔ 4 kg CH₄ in, 3 kg C out; ≈ 11 kg CO₂ avoided versus flaring (before process energy). (IEA)
- Energy floor: ~18.6 MJ/kg H₂ (more in practice). (PNNL)
- Per MCF methane: ~4.7 kg H₂ + ~14.1 kg C.
- Indicative selling prices (2025):
- H₂ $2–6/kg (industrial, region-specific). (MDPI)
- Carbon black $1.2–2.3/kg. (Intratec, IMARC Group)
- Synthetic/graphitic anode $2.4–4.5/kg (spot dashboards). (Metal)
- Compliance credit anchor (AB): CAD 95/tCO₂e (2025 fund price). (ICAP)
10) Where your earlier ideas slot in (from our past chats)
- You asked how your system “creates carbon.” This is it. Pyrolysis makes solid carbon you can either sell as carbon black or upgrade to graphite (via 2,800–3,000 °C graphitization) to chase battery markets. (ScienceDirect)
- On graphite demand: battery-grade anodes remain supply-constrained ex-China, and prices in 2025 show a wide band but viable margins for efficient producers. Your “turquoise hub” idea (H₂ + graphite) dovetails with that. (Oxford Energy, Metal)
Sources (high-signal)
- Thermodynamics & process: PNNL/DOE review (ΔH = 74.8 kJ/mol CH₄), molten-media reviews. (PNNL, ScienceDirect)
- Operating temperatures & catalysts: recent academic reviews on catalytic and plasma methane pyrolysis. (RSC Publishing, PMC, MDPI)
- Flaring facts: EPA AP-42 flare destruction efficiency; World Bank flaring tracker (2023–2024). (US EPA, World Bank)
- Hydrogen emissions baseline: IEA Global Hydrogen Review (SMR at ~10–12 kg CO₂e/kg H₂). (IEA)
- Real-world projects: Monolith (DOE conditional $1.04 B loan); HAZER (iron-ore catalytic pyrolysis to H₂ + graphite, multi-day continuous runs, demo plant). (Monolith Corp, E&E News by POLITICO, FuelCellsWorks, Australian Renewable Energy Agency)
- Carbon pricing & credits (Canada 2025): BC/federal consumer carbon charge eliminations; Alberta TIER compliance price & offset pathways; vent-gas protocol. (Province of British Columbia, Government of Canada, ICAP, Open Alberta)
- Carbon/graphite markets: price trackers and spot dashboards for carbon black and synthetic anode material. (Intratec, IMARC Group, Metal)
