What is Methane Abatement? A Practical Look at Combustion Systems, Safety, and Emissions Control

Methane abatement is the process of reducing or eliminating methane emissions to the atmosphere through methods like capture, flaring, or combustion. Methane is the second most important anthropogenic greenhouse gas contributing to climate change. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), the global energy sector released nearly 135 million tonnes of methane emissions in 2022. Effective methane abatement in combustion-based applications depends on well-designed burner management and combustion control systems. These systems help ensure methane is combusted reliably and efficiently, reducing the likelihood of unburned methane releases during normal operation.

For operators in industries like the Oil and Gas sector and Biogas sector, including Waste Management and Agriculture, addressing methane emissions is a compliance requirement. Mitigating methane emissions also leads to risk reduction, improved operational efficiency, and better profitability protection, while supporting emissions targets and ESG commitments.

What is Methane and its Environmental Impact?

Methane (CH₄) is the primary component of natural gas and is responsible for much of its energy value and flammability. Methane, a simple hydrocarbon compound consisting of one carbon atom and four hydrogen atoms, is a short-lived climate pollutant. Preventing its release and ensuring reliable combustion can significantly reduce near-term climate impacts, while supporting safer, more efficient operations.

Because methane is the dominant molecule in natural gas, it also carries significant environmental weight. It’s a potent greenhouse gas, and agriculture is one of the largest sources. Ruminant livestock contributes over 55–60% of agricultural methane emissions through enteric fermentation, while manure management adds roughly 6–8%, depending on the system and methodology used.

Landfills play a significant role in methane emissions. When organic waste decomposes without oxygen, it produces landfill gas, roughly 50% methane by volume. Older sites without gas-collection systems can release large amounts of this potent greenhouse gas. Fortunately, many modern landfills are equipped to capture and either flare or repurpose the gas effectively. Even with these advancements, decomposition ensures that landfills remain a long-term contributor to global methane levels.

What Are the Main Sources of Methane Emissions?

Methane sources vary by industry and identifying them is the first step toward effective abatement.

• Oil and Gas Sector: Methane emissions often originate from venting, flaring, storage tanks, and glycol process heaters.
• Waste Management: Landfills produce methane as organic material decomposes.
• Agriculture: Methane emissions arise from manure management and biogas systems.

Targeting these sources not only cuts greenhouse gas emissions and supports the fight against climate change but also boosts your site safety and prevents hazardous incidents. It represents a forward-thinking operational strategy that benefits both your business and the environment.

How Do Burner Management & Combustion Control Systems Help Reduce Methane Emissions?

Burner management systems (BMS) and combustion control systems (CCS) are essential for controlling methane emissions by ensuring efficient and complete combustion. Their automation efficiencies play a crucial role in ESG climate change mitigation strategies. Industrial burners that are outdated, poorly configured, or manually operated can increase the risk of flame failure, incomplete combustion, or incorrect purge timing that release unburned methane. These issues are especially common in legacy systems lacking automation.

Advanced automated BMS solutions, such as our PF2200 BMS Controller and PF3100 BMS Controller, directly address these challenges.

The Benefits of Advanced BMS

Advanced BMS solutions offer a range of benefits:

• Reliable Burner Ignition: Prevents failures that can release methane emissions.
• Precise Air-Fuel Ratios: Maintains clean and efficient combustion.
• Real-Time Monitoring: Delivers alerts to ensure stable performance and prevent unsafe conditions.
• Certified Safety: Complies with key combustion standards in the United States and Canada, including NFPA 86 & 87, CSA B149.3, and IEC 60730-2-5.

Facilities can reduce methane slip from industrial burners by using a strong combustion management strategy. This also improves operational uptime. And helps you meet increasing regulatory demands.

What is a Flare Ignition System?

A Flare Ignition System (FIS) is specifically built to handle gas flaring applications. Although advanced BMS Controllers can manage these applications, they’re not always necessary. In many cases, a straightforward FIS like the PF2100F is more than enough for simpler gas flaring needs. When choosing a system, evaluate your operating conditions and regulatory requirements. Also consider the level of flare management needed—reliable ignition, continuous flame supervision, and performance monitoring—to ensure safe, efficient operation and avoid unnecessary downtime.

How Do You Measure Methane Abatement Effectiveness?

Destruction and Removal Efficiency (DRE) measures how well methane abatement works. It calculates how completely methane is removed during combustion. Even minor inefficiencies can release large amounts of methane. This creates unsafe conditions and weakens emission reduction efforts. Optimizing DRE is therefore a critical goal.

Key factors that influence DRE include:

• Proper Combustion Tuning: Ensures methane is fully oxidized.
• Forced Draft Systems: Regulate airflow to maintain stable combustion.
• Modulating Burner Control: Adjusts to varying loads to deliver superior efficiency compared to basic ON/OFF systems.

Operators can reduce fugitive methane emissions and combustion slips by using advanced combustion control technologies coupled with Profire fuel trains. These technologies provide high destruction removal efficiency (DRE). They ensure that harmful emissions are minimized, contributing to climate change mitigation. They are designed to keep optimal performance and operational efficiency. This allows operators to meet environmental and productivity goals without compromise.

Methane Abatement in Action: The Profire and Qnergy Project

A recent collaboration between Profire and Qnergy at a landfill in Weber County, Utah, shows how burner management technology achieves effective methane abatement. The goal was to reduce dangerous methane emissions from the landfill while producing renewable energy for the community.

Qnergy’s Methane Destruction System uses a Profire PF2200 BMS Controller to ensure reliable ignition of the volatile landfill gases. The captured methane is then converted into electricity by Qnergy’s PowerGen 5650 generators and delivered to the local grid.

The results were a 95% reduction in methane emissions and the creation of a renewable energy source. The Methane Destruction System has:

• safety shutoff solenoids,
• inline flame arrestors, AND
• two proof-of-flame devices: a flame rod and a UV scanner.

These features increase safety and reliability. This project shows that adding automated burner management to abatement strategies helps the environment. It also improves operations and benefits the community.

What Are the Real-World Benefits of Methane Abatement?

Effective methane abatement provides significant value beyond just reducing methane emissions. It strengthens operations across several critical fronts:

• Lower Emissions: Meets tight regulatory requirements and supports climate initiatives by reducing fugitive, vented, and any slipped methane emissions.
• Improved Fuel Efficiency: Reduces gas waste through clean, consistent combustion, which helps lower fuel costs.
• Reduced Downtime: Automated systems place less stress on equipment, resulting in fewer shutdowns and lower maintenance costs.
• Renewable Energy Generation: Some systems can be configured to transform captured emissions into renewable energy for the community.

These operational gains work in tandem with environmental benefits. Companies can reduce risk in dangerous environments by investing in methane abatement. They can improve system reliability, support ESG goals, and fight climate change.

Types of Methane Abatement Solutions

Several methane abatement strategies are used across industrial operations, each addressing a different source of emissions.

Gas Flaring (Controlled Combustion)

Waste, biogas, and upstream facilities often try to capture methane for destruction or energy recovery. When that isn’t practical, high-efficiency gas flaring becomes the fallback. A properly designed and operated flare converts methane into CO₂ and water through controlled combustion. While it still produces emissions, it significantly lowers the climate impact, as CO₂ has a much lower warming potential. Reliable ignition systems play a critical role in gas flaring activities, by limiting unlit flares and keeping sites aligned with regulatory requirements.

Gas Capture and Utilization

When methane can be recovered, it can be routed into productive use, rather than vented or flared. Captured methane can be utilized in several ways:

• As an onsite fuel source
• Injected into pipelines
• Converted to generate power
• Compressed for downstream processing

These options provide flexible and efficient ways to repurpose methane for various applications.

Leak Detection and Repair (LDAR)

Fugitive emissions and combustion slips remain one of the largest and most overlooked sources of methane loss. Optical gas imaging, continuous monitoring, and satellite detection help teams identify combustion slips and emission leaks and resolve them before they escalate. A well-run LDAR program offers fast, measurable reductions in emissions. Additionally, advanced burner and combustion management technologies reduce combustion slips in process heating equipment. They improve flame stability, tight-shutoff performance, and system control.

Methane Destruction Systems

Some facilities use enclosed methane destruction systems when flaring isn’t suitable, or when tighter emissions control is required. These systems burn methane inside a sealed, insulated chamber that maintains stable temperatures and consistent residence time. That setup helps achieve high destruction efficiency while minimizing visible emissions, noise, and odor. Because the combustion takes place in an enclosed environment, operators get more predictable performance and an easier path to compliance in locations where traditional flaring is restricted.

How Do You Select the Right Methane Abatement Solution?

Choosing the right methane abatement strategy requires a clear understanding of site-specific factors. These include:

• fuel composition,
• burner type,
• regulatory requirements, and
• load variability.

Key Considerations for Methane Abatement

1. System Compatibility: Solutions must integrate with existing infrastructure and perform reliably under your site’s unique operating conditions.
2. Compliance: Facilities must comply with standards, such as NFPA 86 and 87 in the United States, and often require documentation to pass audits.
3. Burner Control Method: Sites with fluctuating loads benefit most from modulating burners that maintain efficiency across different industrial processes.
4. Remote Access: The ability to monitor DRE, troubleshoot faults, and verify performance remotely enables more proactive maintenance and reporting.
5. Gas Flaring Management: Flare Ignition Systems can manage simple gas flaring applications and don’t always require advanced burner and combustion management solutions.

Our burner & combustion management systems are designed to address these challenges, helping you tailor an abatement solution to your specific operational demands.

Methane Abatement is a Strategic Advantage

Reducing methane emissions is no longer an option. Using advanced combustion management systems helps you meet compliance goals, maintain uptime, reduce operational risk, and prevent gas loss, effectively tackling methane emissions.

At Profire, we help you transform methane abatement into a strategic advantage. Our automated systems, whether it’s a powerful PF2200 BMS Controller or an advanced PF3100 system, improve performance to support your long-term operational goals.

Talk to our experts about reducing methane emissions and improving combustion efficiency—without disrupting operations. Let’s get started.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What is the difference between methane abatement and carbon capture?

A: Methane abatement prevents or destroys methane before it reaches the atmosphere. Carbon capture targets carbon dioxide from combustion sources and stores it rather than releasing it. Both reduce emissions, but they address different gases and use different technologies.

Q: Can methane abatement improve site safety?

A: Yes. Methane abatement reduces the risk of uncontrolled gas releases by ensuring methane is burned completely and reliably. Strong combustion control limits ignition hazards, minimizes accumulation, and supports safer operating conditions.

Q: How does methane abatement affect ESG reporting?

A: Methane abatement delivers verifiable reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, significantly enhancing the accuracy of audit trails and the integrity of ESG reporting. It shows commitment to compliance, responsible operations, and proactive risk management, all of which influence sustainability scores and stakeholder confidence.