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Natural gas qualities in Europe will become increasingly diverse and combustion characteristics (Wobbe index, methane
number) will vary over wider ranges. The article presents the gas qualities to be expected over the medium term and
analyses and discusses their effects on future gas utilisation. Aside from rich (high-calorific) LNG qualities, future natural
gas and biomethane qualities are not expected to cause problems in gas utilisation in most European countries. This
also applies where up to 10 % of hydrogen produced from renewable surplus electricity is admixed except for three
important applications: tanks for compressed natural gas used as a motor fuel, gas turbines with premixed burners
and underground porous rock storage facilities; here further R&D input is still required. Biomethane produced from
contaminated feedstock may carry undesirable trace substances. Particularly careful treatment and quality control are
then necessary. Hydrogen or methane produced from renewable surplus electricity will have a high purity level and,
like biomethane, will contribute to further reducing CO2-emissions. This will make natural gas an even more climateprotecting fuel compared with other fossil fuels.
he gases injected into the European gas transportation system will become increasingly diverse: while
conventional pipeline gases from the North Sea,
Russia, the Netherlands, Algeria and other producer regions
are not expected to change significantly, liquefied natural
gas (LNG) as well as biomethane will be gaining importance
and, in the medium term, also hydrogen or methane from
surplus renewable electricity as well as gases produced by
the gasification of solid biomass. The diversification trend
is welcome as it enhances supply security. Moreover, gases
from renewable sources help reduce climate-harming carbon dioxide emissions (greening of gas).
But, as a result, the market will see a greater variety of
gas qualities and gas qualities will vary over a wider range.
Gas appliances will have to respond increasingly flexibly.
Continued reliable operation of the more than 160 million
gas appliances in Europe must not be affected.
The paper describes different gases and their effects on
future gas utilization.
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BIOMETHANE
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Gas Quality
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Table 1: Gas qualities of different natural gases (pipeline), LNG and biomethane
Gas composition
Symbol
Unit
Nigeria
LNG
(mean)
Egypt
LNG
(lean)
Bio
methane
Bio
methane
+LPG
methane
CH4
mol%
96.96
88.71
90.07
81.57
91.28
97.70
96.15
90.94
nitrogen
N2
mol%
0.86
0.82
0.28
0.69
0.08
0.08
0.75
0.69
carbon dioxide
CO2
mol%
0.18
1.94
0.60
2.90
2.68
ethane
C2H6
mol%
1.37
6.93
5.68
13.38
4.62
1.80
propane
C3H8
mol%
0.45
1.25
2.19
3.67
2.62
0.22
5.00
n-butane
n-C4H10
mol%
0.15
0.28
0.90
0.69
1.40
0.20
0.50
n-pentane
n-C5H12
mol%
0.02
0.05
0.22
n-hexane
n-C6H14
mol%
0.01
0.02
0.06
hydrogen
H2
mol%
oxygen
O2
mol%
0.20
0.19
total
mol%
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
superior calorific
value
Hsv
MJ/m
40.3
41.9
43.7
46.4
44.0
40.7
38.3
41.9
superior calorific
value
Hsv
kWh/m
11.2
11.6
12.1
12.9
12.2
11.3
10.6
11.6
relative density
0.574
0.629
0.630
0.669
0.624
0.569
0.587
0.641
Wobbe Index
Ws
MJ/m
53.1
52.9
55.0
56.7
55.7
53.9
50.0
52.3
Wobbe Index
Ws
kWh/m
14.8
14.7
15.3
15.8
15.5
15.0
13.9
14.5
92
79
73
65
71
92
103
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methane number MZ
Biomethane from fermentation processes is a very simple gas: when injected into group-H gas networks it consists
of 96 to 98 % of methane as well as of carbon dioxide and
air. Its superior calorific value and Wobbe index are low
(Table 1). By conditioning with liquefied petroleum gas
(LPG) the superior calorific value of biomethane can be
adjusted to the superior calorific value prevailing in the
network, if necessary.
It is the oxygen content (0.1 to 0.5 %) that may be problematic when injecting biomethane into high-pressure transportation networks as even very low oxygen concentrations
(e.g. as low as 0.01 %) may cause significant problems in humid
underground storage facilities: corrosion on steel pipes as well
as detrimental effects on storage characteristics caused by
the formation of elementary sulphur and clogging of pores
[1]. Other undesirable accompanying or trace substances are
not known for biogas plants operated on quality-assured
feedstock (energy crops, liquid manure, green waste) and
equipped with a suitable gas treatment system [2,3].
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HYDROGEN
With the fast pace in developments, in particular in the field
of wind energy, the known problem of electricity storage has
gained a new dimension. Pumped storage power stations
have been used for decades to store electricity on a larger
scale. The number of power stations and their potential are
limited in many countries. The concrete idea is being pursued
to use surplus electricity for the generation of hydrogen by
electrolysis and inject the hydrogen generated directly into
the natural gas network. This will cause natural gas and electricity networks to become even more interdependent (Fig. 3).
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In Germany almost 1,000 TWh (1012 kWh) of energy in
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the form of natural gas are transported annually; this is
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REPORTS
Gas Quality
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COMBUSTION CHARACTERISTICS
RANGES
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Gas Quality
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Table 2: Gas qualities of different natural gases (pipeline), LNG and and biomethane with admixtures of 10 mol % of hydrogen
Russian North Sea Danish
Libya
Group H Group H Group H LNG (rich)
Nigeria
LNG
(mean)
Egypt
Bio
LNG (lean) methane
Bio
methane
+LPG
Gas composition
Symbol
Unit
methane
CH4
mol%
87.26
79.84
81.06
73.41
82.15
87.93
86.54
81.85
niotrogen
N2
mol%
0.77
0.74
0.25
0.62
0.07
0.07
0.67
0.62
carbon dioxide
CO2
mol%
0.16
1.75
0.54
2.61
2.41
ethane
C2H6
mol%
1.23
6.24
5.11
12.04
4.16
1.62
propane
C3H8
mol%
0.41
1.13
1.97
3.30
2.36
0.20
4.50
n-butane
n-C4H10
mol%
0.14
0.25
0.81
0.62
1.26
0.18
0.45
n-pentane
n-C5H12
mol%
0.02
0.05
0.20
n-hexane
n-C6H14
mol%
0.01
0.02
0.05
hydrogen
H2
mol%
10.00
10.00
10.00
10.00
10.00
10.00
10.00
10.00
oxygen
O2
mol%
0.18
0.17
total
mol%
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
superior calorific
value
Hsv
MJ/m
37.5
39.0
40.6
43.0
40.9
37.8
35.7
38.9
superior calorific
value
Hsv
kWh/m
10.4
10.8
11.3
12.0
11.4
10.5
9.9
10.8
relative density
0.523
0.573
0.574
0.609
0.568
0.519
0.535
0.583
Wobbe Index
Ws
MJ/m
51.8
51.5
53.5
55.1
54.2
52.5
48.8
51.0
Wobbe Index
Ws
kWh/m
14.4
14.3
14.9
15.3
15.1
14.6
13.6
14.2
methane number
MZ
83
74
68
62
67
83
97
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Mercaptans
Oxygen:
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treatment; but this is usually not the case. When producing biomethane, on the other hand, oxygen is
contained in small volumes (e.g. 0.2 %) for processinherent reasons.
Separation of oxygen to obtain values of 0.01 % or
0.001 % requires additional capital and operational
expenditure. It should therefore be carefully examined
which oxygen limit value is really required, in particular
with respect to humid underground storage facilities.
Hydrogen
As mentioned in Section 4, the natural gas infrastructure still includes some sensitive elements where even
hydrogen volumes of less than 10 % may cause problems. Further R&D input in the fields of CNG tanks, gas
turbines and underground storage facilities is therefore
required.
Once the results are available, future gas quality specifications and standards should include hydrogen.
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blems in most European countries as their Wobbe indices
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are in a range from 49 MJ/m (13.6 kWh/m) to just under
w
Siloxanes,
CONCLUSION
The natural gas qualities in Europe will become increasingly diverse involving greater variations in combustion
characteristics (Wobbe index, methane number). Except for
rich LNG qualities, natural gases expected to come to the
market and biomethane will not pose any utilisation pro-
LITERATURE
[1] Gronemann, U.; Forster, R.; Wallbrecht, J.; Schlerkmann, H.: Oxygen
Content in Natural Gas Infrastructure. gwf International 2010, pp.
26-30.
[9] EASEE-gas Common Business Practice Nr. 2005-001/02, (harmonisation of gas quality) EASEE-gas European Association for the
Streamlining of Energy Exchange gas.
[2] Graf, F.; Kppel, W.: Ergebnisse des DVGW Messprogramm Biogaserzeugung und -aufbereitung. gwf Gas/Erdgas 151 (2010), pp.
110-119.
[10] van Almsick, T.; Kaesler, H.: Bestimmung von Spurenkomponenten in Erd- und Biogasen. gwf Gas/Erdgas 150 (2009).
AUTHORS
Dr. Klaus Altfeld
E.ON Ruhrgas AG
Essen, Germany
Tel.: +49 (0)201/ 184-8385
klaus.altfeld@eon-ruhrgas.com
[8] DGC Danish Gas Technology Centre. Methane number calculation of natural gas mixtures. Software Version 1.0.
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