Electrical Uses

Natural gas, because of its clean burning nature, has become a very popular
fuel for the generation of electricity. In the 1970s and 1980s, the choices for
most electric utility generators were large coal or nuclear powered
plants. However, due to economic, environmental and technological changes,
natural gas has become the fuel of choice for new power plants built since the
1990s. In fact, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimates that
between 2009-2015, 96.65 gigawatts (GW) of new electricity capacity will be
added in the U.S. Of this, over 20 percent, or 21.2 GW, will be natural gas
additions. The graph below shows how, according to the EIA, natural gas-fired
electricity generation is expected to account for 80 percent of all added
electricity generation capacity by
2035.
There are many reasons for this
increased reliance on natural gas
to generate our electricity. While
coal is the cheapest fossil fuel for
generating electricity, it is also the
dirtiest, releasing the highest
levels of pollutants into the air.
The electric generation industry, in
fact, has traditionally been one of
the most polluting industries in the
United States. Regulations
surrounding the emissions of
power plants have forced these
electric generators to come up
Source: EIA Annual Energy Outlook 2010
with new methods of generating
power, while lessening environmental damage. New technology has allowed
natural gas to play an increasingly important role in the clean generation of
electricity. Click on the link for more information on the environmental
benefits of natural gas, including its role as a clean energy source for the
generation of electricity.
Steam Generation Units
Natural gas can be used to generate electricity in a variety of ways. The most
basic natural gas-fired electric generation consists of a steam generation unit,
where fossil fuels are burned in a boiler to heat water and produce steam that

then turns a turbine to generate electricity. Natural gas may be used for this
process, although these basic steam units are more typical of large coal or
nuclear generation facilities. These basic steam generation units have fairly
low energy efficiency. Typically, only 33 to 35 percent of the thermal energy
used to generate the steam is converted into electrical energy in these types
of units.
Centralized Gas Turbines
Gas turbines and combustion engines are also used to
generate electricity. In these types of units, instead of
heating steam to turn a turbine, hot gases from burning
fossil fuels (particularly natural gas) are used to turn the
turbine and generate electricity. Gas turbine and
combustion engine plants are traditionally used primarily
for peak-load demands, as it is possible to quickly and
easily turn them on. These plants have increased in
popularity due to advances in technology and the
availability of natural gas. However, they are still
traditionally slightly less efficient than large steam-driven
power plants.

A Centralized Gas
Turbine
Generation
Station
Source: National Energy
Technology Laboratory, DOE

Combined Cycle Units

Many of the new natural gas fired power
plants are known as combined-cycle units.
In these types of generating facilities, there
is both a gas turbine and a steam unit, all in
one. The gas turbine operates in much the
same way as a normal gas turbine, using
the hot gases released from burning natural
gas to turn a turbine and generate
Reciprocating Engine System electricity. In combined-cycle plants, the
waste heat from the gas-turbine process is
Source:
directed toward generating steam, which is
EnergySolutionsCenter.org
then used to generate electricity much like a
steam unit. Because of this efficient use of the heat energy released from the
natural gas, combined-cycle plants are much more efficient than steam units
or gas turbines alone. In fact, combined-cycle plants can achieve thermal
efficiencies of up to 50 to 60 percent.
Distributed Generation

Until recently, methods of generating power have

been discussed in the context of large, centralized
power plants. However, with technological
advancements, there is a trend towards what is
known as distributed generation. Distributed
generation refers to the placement of individual,
smaller sized electric generation units at
residential, commercial, and industrial sites of use.
These small scale power plants, which are
primarily powered by natural gas, operate with
small gas turbine or combustion engine units, or
natural gas fuel cells.
Distributed generation can take many forms, from
small, low output generators used to back up the A Proposed Natural Gas
Combined Cycle Power
supply of electricity obtained from the centralized
Plant in New York
electric utilities, to larger, independent generators
Source: New York Power Authority
that supply enough electricity to power an entire
factory. Distributed generation is attractive because it offers electricity that is
more reliable, more efficient, and cheaper than purchasing power from a
centralized utility. Distributed generation also allows for increased local control
over the electricity supply, and cuts down on electricity losses during
transmission. Below is a discussion of the various forms of natural gas-fired
distributed generation.
Natural gas is one of the leading energy sources for distributed generation.
Because of the extensive natural gas supply infrastructure and the
environmental benefits of using natural gas, it is one of the leading choices for
on-site power generation. There are a number of ways in which natural gas
may be used on-site to generate electricity. Fuel cells, gas-fired reciprocating
engines, industrial natural gas-fired turbines, and microturbines are all popular
forms of using natural gas for on-site electricity needs.
Industrial Natural Gas Fired Turbines
Industrial natural gas-fired turbines operate on the same concept as the larger
centralized gas turbine generators discussed above. However, instead of
being located in a centralized plant, these turbines are located in close
proximity to where the electricity being generated will be used. Industrial
turbines producing electricity through the use of high temperature, high
pressure gas to turn a turbine that generates a current are compact,
lightweight, easily started, and simple to operate. This type of distributed

generation is commonly used by medium and large sized establishments,

such as universities, hospitals, commercial buildings and industrial plants, and
can achieve efficiency up to 58 percent.
In contrast with distributed generation the heat that would normally be lost as
waste energy can easily be harnessed to perform other functions, such as
powering a boiler or space heating. This is known as Combined Heat and
Power (CHP) systems. These systems make use of heat that is normally
wasted in the electric generation process, thereby increasing the energy
efficiency of the total system.
In addition, on-site natural gas turbines can be used in a combined cycle unit,
as discussed above. Due to the advantages of these types of generation
units, a great deal of research is being put into developing more efficient,
advanced gas turbines for distributed generation.
For more information on natural gas as a fuel for generating electricity,
click here to see a study from the Natural Gas Supply
Association.
Microturbines
Microturbines are scaled down versions of industrial gas
turbines. As their name suggests, these generating units are
very small, and typically have a relatively small electric
output. These types of distributed generation systems have
the capacity to produce from 25 to 500 kilowatts (kW) of
electricity, and are best suited for residential or small scale
commercial units.
Gas Fired
Advantages to microturbines include a very compact size
Microturbine
(about the same size as a refrigerator), a small number of
Source: Oak Ridge National
Laboratory
moving parts, light-weight, low-cost, and increased efficiency.
Using new waste heat recovery techniques, microturbines can achieve energy
efficiencies of up to 80 percent.
Natural Gas-Fired Reciprocating Engines

Natural-gas fired reciprocating engines are also

used for on-site electric generation. These
types of engines are also commonly known as
combustion engines. They convert the energy
contained in fossil fuels into mechanical energy,
which rotates a piston to generate electricity.
Natural-gas fired reciprocating engines typically
generate from less than 5 kW, up to 7
Gas Fired Reciprocating megawatts (MW), meaning they can be used as
Engine
a small scale residential backup generator to a
Source: National Energy Technology Laboratory,
DOE
base load generator in industrial settings. These
engines offer efficiencies from 25 to 45 percent, and can also be used in
a CHP system to increase energy efficiency.
Fuel cells are becoming an increasingly important technology for the
generation of electricity. They are much like rechargeable batteries, except
instead of using an electric recharger, they use a fuel, such as natural gas, to
generate electric power even when they are in use. Fuel cells for distributed
generation offer a multitude of benefits, and are an exciting area of innovation
and research for distributed generation applications.