The issue of gas flaring and the attendant environmental effects have become a common sight in the Niger Delta. Apart from being a wastage of natural resources, it is a menace to the global existence of man. The incidences of acid rain and the disruption of economic life of the locals, basically farming and fishing, have led to consistent and irresistible agitation by the people of the Niger Delta for an end to gas flaring. The consistent release of harmful gases through gas flaring, with devastating effect on the surrounding environment of the Niger Delta region is discussed in this work. This dissertation examines why successive governments have not succeeded in their quest for a solution to gas flaring; policies and regulations are not being effectively implemented, and why despite the fact that flaring has been outlawed in Nigeria since 1st January 1984, it is still going on 24 years after. Flaring continues unabated undermining the consequences it has on the people and the effects on climate change. Interviews and case studies were used to examine the factors responsible for the non implementation of government policies and regulations, and why the consistent extension of flare-out deadline. Countries with outstanding results were examined in order to draw a baseline for the Nigeria situation. The research revealed that the Nigerian government has not enforced environmental regulations effectively because of its interests in the business of the multinationals. In addition there has been the dependence of environmental monitoring and regulatory agencies on government funding. This has drastically affected the proficiencies of the control and the insignificant penalties imposed on companies that flare gas. The need for government to play the role of an umpire rather than business partner with the multinationals is therefore of paramount importance. It is also pertinent that the regulatory and monitoring agencies be independent of government's supervision. More stringent measures, (ranging from more cost per a thousand standard cubic feet of gas flared to closure of platform(s) and/or outright withdrawal of license), should also be put in place to serve as deterrent to erring oil companies. / Thesis (M.Ing. (Development and Management Engineering))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

The issue of gas flaring and the attendant environmental effects have become a common sight in the Niger Delta. Apart from being a wastage of natural resources, it is a menace to the global existence of man. The incidences of acid rain and the disruption of economic life of the locals, basically farming and fishing, have led to consistent and irresistible agitation by the people of the Niger Delta for an end to gas flaring. The consistent release of harmful gases through gas flaring, with devastating effect on the surrounding environment of the Niger Delta region is discussed in this work. This dissertation examines why successive governments have not succeeded in their quest for a solution to gas flaring; policies and regulations are not being effectively implemented, and why despite the fact that flaring has been outlawed in Nigeria since 1st January 1984, it is still going on 24 years after. Flaring continues unabated undermining the consequences it has on the people and the effects on climate change. Interviews and case studies were used to examine the factors responsible for the non implementation of government policies and regulations, and why the consistent extension of flare-out deadline. Countries with outstanding results were examined in order to draw a baseline for the Nigeria situation. The research revealed that the Nigerian government has not enforced environmental regulations effectively because of its interests in the business of the multinationals. In addition there has been the dependence of environmental monitoring and regulatory agencies on government funding. This has drastically affected the proficiencies of the control and the insignificant penalties imposed on companies that flare gas. The need for government to play the role of an umpire rather than business partner with the multinationals is therefore of paramount importance. It is also pertinent that the regulatory and monitoring agencies be independent of government's supervision. More stringent measures, (ranging from more cost per a thousand standard cubic feet of gas flared to closure of platform(s) and/or outright withdrawal of license), should also be put in place to serve as deterrent to erring oil companies. / Thesis (M.Ing. (Development and Management Engineering))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

Attention worldwide has been placed towards reducing the global carbon footprint. To this end the scientific community has been involved in improving many of the available methods of carbon capture and storage (CCS). CCS involves scrubbing flue gases of greenhouse gases and safely storing them deep underground. MOFs, a family of functionally tunable three dimensional nanoporous frameworks, have been shown to adsorb gases with great selectivity and capacity. Investigating these frameworks using computational simulations, although faster than in-lab synthetic methods, involves a tedious and meticulous input preparation process which is subject to human error. This thesis presents Dave's Occupancy Automation Package (DOAP),a software which provides a means to automatically determine the gas uptake of many three dimensional frameworks. By providing atomic coordinates for a unit simulation cell, the software acts to performs the necessary calculations to construct and execute a Grand Canonical Monte Carlo simulation, determining the gas uptake in a metal organic framework. Additionally an analysis of different convergence assessment tests for describing the end point of the GCMC simulation is presented.

This thesis examines the prospect of structure H (sH) hydrate to be exploited for methane storage. The methane content in the hydrate, hydrate kinetics and conversion rates are areas of particular importance. Experiments and theory are employed at the macroscopic and molecular levels to study the relevant phenomena. sH hydrate was successfully synthesized from ice particles with full conversion achieved within a day when thermal ramping above the ice melting point was applied. It was found that a polar guest (tert-butyl methyl ether / TBME) wets ice more extensively compared to two hydrophobic guests (neo-hexane / NH and methyl-cyclohexane / MCH). TBME also has much higher solubility in water. Consequently, the system with TBME was found to exhibit the highest initial hydrate formation rate from ice particles or in water in a well stirred vessel. However, the rate with the hydrophobic guests was the fastest when the temperature exceeded the ice point. Thus, the applied temperature ramping compensated the slow kinetics below the ice point for the hydrophobic guests and allowed faster overall conversion than the polar guest. Structure, cage occupancy, composition and methane content in the hydrate were also determined by employing different techniques and the results were found to be consistent. It was found that the methane content in structure H hydrate with TBME was the smallest (103-125 v/v) whereas that with NH was 130-139 (v/v) and that with MCH was 132-142 (v/v). The methane content in structure II hydrate by using propane (C₃H₈) and tetrahydrofuran (THF) as the large guest molecule were also estimated. Optimal methane content was found at approximately 100 (v/v) for both C₃H₈ and THF systems with the large guest concentrations at 1% for C₃H₈ (10°C) and 1% for THF (room temperature). The gas content is of course lower than that for structure I hydrate (170 v/v) but one should consider the fact that the hydrate formation conditions are much lower (less than 1 MPa). Finally, MD simulations revealed for the first time the formation of defects in the cavities for the TBME/methane/water (sH hydrate) system which may affect hydrate stability and kinetics.

Thesis (M.S.)--West Virginia University, 2007. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains viii, 87 p. : ill. (some col.). Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 72-73).

Thesis (M.S.)--Ohio University, November, 2001. / Title from PDF t.p.

Thesis (M. Eng.(Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering))-Universiteit van Pretoria, 2007. / Abstract in English. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 129-150). Also available in electronic version.

Thesis (M.S.)--West Virginia University, 2009. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains ix, 100 p. : ill. (some col.), col. maps. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 72-73).

Thesis (M. App. Sc.)--Carleton University, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 128-133). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.