Oil & gas
A new approach to gas engine control and monitoring W
e are seeing gas engines more and more specified for electricity generation among a wide variety of
applications as the technology continues to develop, and operators recognise the efficiency and fuel optimisation advantages offered. The gas engine market is expected to grow
by almost six per cent in the next five years, fueled by lower gas prices, which have declined by more than 30 per cent in the past few years, and increased demand for power generation. Indeed, the global market for gas engines is expected to be wor th USD 4.76 billion by 2022. However, while the growth of gas engine
usage and the interconnection of the gas networks, together with a greater requirement for reliability and availability and lower maintenance, are creating new challenges, the issue of gas quality variation - how gas quality varies between sources, countries, regulations and even time - remains a critical factor, presenting a challenge that new sensor technology can help to overcome. Attempts to harmonise gas quality
regulations in the EU which in turn, eases gas trading across borders, are convincing gas
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distributors to push for a broadening of gas quality limits to enlarge the por tfolio of possible sources. Simultaneously, OEM engine builders and other gas-fuel users, are pressing for restrictive limits that are better suited for their power plants and ancillary equipment. Natural gas is a generic designation for various qualities of gas based on the main gas
component methane (CH4). As such, it covers many different qualities linked to the gas composition including the source of raw gas and refinery processes. The gas can be manufactured from synthesis technologies, natural processes, or ‘renewable power-to-gas’ technologies. Gas networks are interconnected and
strategically linked to multiple sources. Because of this, the quality of gas can change at a given location and these changes could be
With the capabilities offered by a
fast response sensor, authorities and suppliers can find greater opportunities for global gas trading...
’’
Patrice Flot, chief technical officer at CMR Group, considers new sensor technology in the wake of the increasing specification of gas engines for power generation
rapid when switching from one source to another. As well, rapid changes of gas quality can occur in other situations faced by end users, such as onsite switching from a gas tank to the gas network, or vice-versa. Also, when gas is only available in LNG tanks, switching from an empty tank to a full one can result in significant changes in gas quality - an empty tank will deliver the heaviest molecules contained in natural gas, and a full one may deliver the lightest molecules. Another major difficulty for builders of
stationary gas engines is the rate of change of gas quality over shor t periods of time. Because that point is not addressed by regulation, they must cope with potential sudden changes in gas quality that are not always managed by current combustion control loop technologies. These control loops are based downward on combustion parameters measurement, not upfront on gas quality measurement.
SiGniFiCant develoPMentS To overcome these issues, there is significant development around new technology - the Near InfraRed Intelligent Sensor natural gas sensor (NIRIS NG) for instance - which has been designed to analyse the natural gas composition at the inlet of the gas engine.
October 2019 Instrumentation Monthly
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