IMPLICATIONS OF NATURAL GAS INTERCHANGABILITY FOR CALIFORNIA GAS CUSTOMERS

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IMPLICATIONS OF NATURAL GAS INTERCHANGABILITY FOR
CALIFORNIA GAS CUSTOMERS

• Industrial and Commercial Burners GTI lead
• Appliances LBNL lead
• David Rue, GTI, August 9, 2005

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Interchangeability is Defined As -

• The ability to substitute one gaseous fuel for
  another in a combustion application without
  materially changing operational safety or
  performance and without materially increasing air
  pollutant emissions

Source NGC Working Group on Interchangeability
White Paper presented to FERC, Feb. 2005
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What Needs to be Learned?
Application Concern Status Need
Appliances Millions of unregulated units Studies made, results must be compared Testing of old, maladjusted, new units, emissions
Commercial/ Industrial Burners Widest range of use, efficiency, emissions Not yet addressed Extensive testing
Engines and Boilers Knock, efficiency, emissions, stable combustion Mobile engines studied, others not yet addressed Review mobile engine data and testing
Turbines/ Microturbines Efficiency, emissions, turbine life FL study with full-scale turbines, DOE project? Collect turbine maker data and testing
Non-combustion Uses Added process cost, plant modification Not yet addressed Market analysis and data collection
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Industrial and Commercial Burners

• Often much high capacity than appliance burners
• Much more tightly controlled air/fuel ratio is
  in range where small differences change
  performance
• Burners are always part of a combustion system
• Quest for efficiency and low emissions produces
  burner types sensitive to fuel gas changes
• Interchangeability indices will be different from
  those relevant to appliance burners

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Industrial Burner Interchangeability

• Commercial and industrial combustion systems to
  be evaluated
• Most process sensitivity with changing flame
  conditions
• tightest emissions regulations will be identified
• Greatest concern with stable operation
• Effects of fuel changes will be measured for
• Operating characteristics gases, blending,
  switching, air/fuel ratio, turn down.
• Performance characteristics flame length and
  shape, flame temperature, heat flux, flame
  stability, etc.
• Regulatory characteristics emissions, opacity,
  air quality, etc.

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Project Tasks
1 Planning for Industrial and Commercial Burner Interchangeability Study
2 Organization of Study Activities
3 Laboratory Equipment Set-Up
4 Industrial/Commercial Burner and Control System In-Furnace Testing
5 Industrial/Commercial Burner and Control System Chamber Testing
6 Exposure Testing
7 Analysis and Modeling
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Task 1

• The objective is to prepare for industrial and
  commercial burner interchangeability studies
  emphasizing burners of importance in California
• Work period 3 months
• Start date by Sept. 1, 2005
• Participants GTI
• .

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Task 1 Activities

• Literature review burner studies, protocols,
  indices proposed, etc.
• Review of industrial burners and control systems
  in common use
• Review previous listing including SoCalGas
• Discuss with major burner makers
• Protocol selection, modification, and development
• Natural gas, LNG, unconventional gas ranges of
  composition and heating value for testing

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Protocols

• Gas preparation, metering, blending, etc.
• Test procedures for burner operating conditions,
  test order, gas switching, control system
  operation, etc.
• Monitoring procedures to track flame
  characteristics and heat transfer
• Means to track emissions including NOx, CO,
  unburned hydrocarbons, particulates, and trace
  species

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Collecting Information

• Gas data collected from gas industry sources, LNG
  suppliers, blending calculations
• Summarize and document available techniques for
  monitoring combustion equipment, suggest
  modifications as needed
• Monitoring procedures selected from available
  methods, then listed, modifications proposed as
  needed
• List standard emissions data collection methods
  and equipment that can be used

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Final Product From Task 1

• Final report containing
• Literature review on industrial burner
  interchangeability
• Burners and combustion systems with proposed
  sensitivity to interchangeability and prevalence
  in California
• Protocols and suggested modifications documented
  and ranked by proposed priority
• Natural gases, LNGs, and unconventional gases
  described along with basis for choices

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Tasks 2 Through 7

• Oversight committee of sponsors and experts will
  be formed
• Task 2 will
• review Task 1 report and finalize ranking of
  burners, protocols, and gases,
• Select tests and test methods
• Define reporting needs
• Tasks 3-5 will involve testing and reporting
• Task 6 will focus on exposure testing and will
  include validation by LBNL
• Task 7 will involve analysis and modeling of
  industrial burners relative to interchangeability