Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “Off Gas”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 73 records · Page 4

Numerical simulations of depressurization-induced gas production from an interbedded turbidite gas hydrate-bearing sedimentary section in the offshore India: Site NGHP-02-16 (Area-B)

The recent National Gas Hydrate Program Expedition 02 (NGHP-02) identified the existence of gas hydrate-bearing sand reservoirs at a number of sites in the offshore of India including Site NGHP-02-16 in Area-B of the Krishna-Godavari Basin. The architecture of that gas hydrate accumulation is characterized by thin, gas hydrate-bearing, high quality sand layers interbedded with mud layers within a turbidite sedimentary interval. The lowest gas hydrate-bearing layer contacting a thinly-interbedded saline aquifer designates the base of the gas hydrate stability zone (BGHSZ). The proximity of the BGHSZ and the average temperature around 20 °C make the reservoir a favorable target for hydrate destabilization by means of the depressurization method. The results of the reservoir simulations indicate high gas production potential from this marine gas hydrate deposit with manageable concomitant water production using a well completion design that hydraulically isolates layers with water-saturated sands. Using a detailed geological input model, the predicted cumulative gas rates reach ~3.1 × 10 4 m 3 /day (~1.1 MMscf/day) after 90 days of continuous depressurization and demonstrate sustained production rates ~3.0 × 10 4 m 3 /day (~1.0 MMscf/day) after 5 years of production. The interbedded nature of this gas hydrate occurrence promotes the development of horizontal dissociation interfaces between gas hydrate-bearing sand and mud layers. As a result, non-uniform gas production along the horizontal interfaces becomes a primary determinant of reservoir performance. Simulation cases have been executed to determine the impact of the uncertainty in in situ reservoir permeability and the manner in which intrinsic permeability dynamically changes during dissociation in response to the imposed effective stress increase. Here, the cases based on low initial effective permeability and high sensitivity of compaction to stress result in the least favorable production predictions.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗

Life Cycle Water Consumption for Shale Gas and Conventional Natural Gas

Shale gas production represents a large potential source of natural gas for the nation. The scale and rapid growth in shale gas development underscore the need to better understand its environmental implications, including water consumption. This study estimates the water consumed over the life cycle of conventional and shale gas production, accounting for the different stages of production and for flowback water reuse (in the case of shale gas). This study finds that shale gas consumes more water over its life cycle (13–37 L/GJ) than conventional natural gas consumes (9.3–9.6 L/GJ). However, when used as a transportation fuel, shale gas consumes significantly less water than other transportation fuels. When used for electricity generation, the combustion of shale gas adds incrementally to the overall water consumption compared to conventional natural gas. The impact of fuel production, however, is small relative to that of power plant operations. The type of power plant where the natural gas is utilized is far more important than the source of the natural gas.

03 NATURAL GAS↗

Performance, Efficiency and Emissions Assessment of Natural Gas Direct Injection compared to Gasoline and Natural Gas Port-Fuel Injection in an Automotive Engine

Interest in natural gas as a fuel for light-duty transportation has increased due to its domestic availability and lower cost relative to gasoline. Natural gas, comprised mainly of methane, has a higher knock resistance than gasoline making it advantageous for high load operation. However, the lower flame speeds of natural gas can cause ignitability issues at part-load operation leading to an increase in the initial flame development process. While port-fuel injection of natural gas can lead to a loss in power density due to the displacement of intake air, injecting natural gas directly into the cylinder can reduce such losses. A study was designed and performed to evaluate the potential of natural gas for use as a light-duty fuel. Steady-state baseline tests were performed on a single-cylinder research engine equipped for port-fuel injection of gasoline and natural gas, as well as centrally mounted direct injection of natural gas. Experimental results suggest that similar efficiencies can be achieved in part-load operation for both gasoline and natural gas. While the effects of injection timing are generally minimal for port-fuel injection, varying the injection timing for direct injection, especially after intake valve closure, can speed up the early flame development process by nearly 18°CA. Results at full-load suggest that operation with natural gas regardless of fuel system allows for an efficiency increase. While port-fuel injection of natural gas leads to a power density loss, direct injection of natural gas allows for up to a 10% improvement in full-load power density over liquid and gaseous port-fuel injection for a naturally aspirated engine. In addition to increasing full-load efficiencies, natural gas operation allows for up to a 30% reduction in engine out carbon dioxide emissions at full-load.

Sevik, James M↗

Modelling the deployment of CO₂ storage in U.S. gas-bearing shales

The proliferation of commercial development in U.S. gas-bearing shales helped to drive a twelve-fold increase in domestic gas production between 2000 and 2010, and the nation's gas production rates continue to grow. While shales have long been regarded as a desirable caprock for CCS operations because of their low permeability and porosity, there is increasing interest in the feasibility of injecting CO₂ into shales to enhance methane recovery and augment CO₂ storage. Laboratory work published in recent years observes that shales with adsorbed methane appear to exhibit a stronger affinity for CO₂ adsorption, offering the potential to drive additional CH₄ recovery beyond primary production and perhaps the potential to store a larger volume of CO₂ than the volume of methane displaced. Recent research by the authors on the revenues associated with CO₂-enhanced gas recovery (CO₂-EGR) in gas-bearing shales estimates that, based on a range of EGR response rates, the average revenue per ton of CO₂ for projects managed over both EGR and subsequent storage-only phases could range from $0.50 to $18/tCO₂. While perhaps not as profitable as EOR, for regions where lower-cost storage options may be limited, shales could represent another “early opportunity” storage option if proven feasible for reliable EGR and CO₂ storage. Significant storage potential exists in gas shales, with theoretical CO₂ storage resources estimated at approximately 30-50 GtCO₂. However, an analysis of the comprehensive cost competitiveness of these various options is necessary to understand the degree to which they might meaningfully impact U.S. CCS deployment or costs. This preliminary analysis shows that the degree to which EGR-based CO₂ storage could play a role in commercial-scale deployment is heavily dependent upon the offsetting revenues associated with incremental recovery; modeling the low revenue case resulted in only five shale-based projects, while under the high revenue case, shales accounted for as much as 20 percent of total U.S. storage in the first 20 years of deployment. Interestingly, even in this highest revenue case, there appear to be no negative-cost projects that would be profitable in a no-policy environment as modeled under the assumptions employed. While this reflects a very first look at the potential for shales, it is clear that more laboratory and experimental work are needed to reduce uncertainty in key variables and begin to differentiate and identify high-potential shales for early pilot study.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

CO 2 storage in depleted oil and gas fields in the Gulf of Mexico

Depleted oil and gas reservoirs are one of the prime-candidate formations for geologic CO 2 storage. Although both the geological structure and the physical properties of most of them have been extensively studied and characterized, there is limited data on the assessment of the CO 2 storage capacity, especially in the offshore fields. The purpose of this study is to develop a high-level quantitative assessment of the CO 2 volume that can be stored in depleted oil and gas fields in the Federal offshore regions of the Gulf of Mexico (GOM), both on a field-by-field and on a reservoir-by-reservoir basis. In this study, we simulated CO 2 storage in 461 of the depleted oil and gas reservoirs (73 fields) among 3514 reservoirs (675 fields) in the GOM (2013 BOEM Reserves database). Based on the simulation results, we improved the Department of Energy (DOE) CO 2 Storage Resource Estimate Equation to make more refined and accurate estimates of storable CO 2 volumes. Newly revised efficiency factor (ERoil/gas) correlates better with hydrocarbon recovery factor (HCRF), which is found to be a strong indicator of the CO 2 storage capacity of the reservoir. The higher HCRF results in higher ERoil/gas. The further investigations resulted in an improved, material balance-based correlation—which is called the Production-CO 2 Storage Correlation—between cumulative production (free gas, oil and water) at reservoir conditions and CO 2 storage volume at standard conditions. This relationship, which is unique for all three types of reservoirs (gas, oil and combination), allows for making direct estimates of CO 2 storage volume using only existing production data. Application of these correlations to all of the depleted fields (3514 reservoirs) yields CO 2 storage capacities of 4748 MMtons, and the CO 2 storage capacity in all 1295 depleted and active fields (13,289 reservoirs) in the GOM calculated to be 21.57 Billion tons. If a 5000 psia surface injection pressure constraint was applied, these volumes would be reduced to 4075 MMtons for all depleted fields only and to 15.80 Billion tons for all depleted and active fields in the GOM. Therefore, the production-CO 2 storage correlations can be used to make more accurate CO 2 storage volume estimates in all onshore and offshore depleted oil and gas fields.

03 NATURAL GAS↗

Gas Gun Model and Comparison to Experimental Performance of Pipe Guns Operating with Light Propellant Gases and Large Cryogenic Pellets

Injection of multiple large (~10 to 30 mm diameter) shattered pellets into ITER plasmas is presently part of the scheme planned to mitigate the deleterious effects of disruptions on the vessel components. To help in the design and optimize performance of the pellet injectors for this application, a model referred to as “the gas gun simulator” has been developed and benchmarked against experimental data. The computer code simulator is a Java program that models the gas-dynamics characteristics of a single-stage gas gun. Following a stepwise approach, the code utilizes a variety of input parameters to incrementally simulate and analyze the dynamics of the gun as the projectile is launched down the barrel. Using input data, the model can calculate gun performance based on physical characteristics, such as propellant-gas and fast-valve properties, barrel geometry, and pellet mass. Although the model is fundamentally generic, the present version is configured to accommodate cryogenic pellets composed of H2, D2, Ne, Ar, and mixtures of them and light propellant gases (H2, D2, and He). The pellets are solidified in situ in pipe guns that consist of stainless steel tubes and fast-acting valves that provide the propellant gas for pellet acceleration (to speeds ~200 to 700 m/s). The pellet speed is the key parameter in determining the response time of a shattered pellet system to a plasma disruption event. The calculated speeds from the code simulations of experiments were typically in excellent agreement with the measured values. With the gas gun simulator validated for many test shots and over a wide range of physical and operating parameters, it is a valuable tool for optimization of the injector design, including the fast valve design (orifice size and volume) for any operating pressure (~40 bar expected for the ITER application) and barrel length for any pellet size (mass, diameter, and length). Key design parameters and proposed values for the pellet injectors for the ITER disruption mitigation systems are discussed.

Combs, Stephen Kirk↗

A quantitative phase-field model for gas bubble evolution in UO2

Due to the large formation energy of vacancies and noble gas atoms in the form of interstitials or substitutional atoms in nuclear fuel (UO2), the thermodynamic equilibrium concentrations of these species are very low in the nuclear fuel matrix even at very high temperatures, which imposes difficulties upon the quantitative study of bubble evolution via the phase-field method. In this study, a quantitative phase-field model is proposed to deal with this problem. The system’s free energy density is derived according to the principles of thermodynamics, with consideration of the elastic effect and with the use of real material parameters from experiments. The model is useful for the study of the kinetics of gas bubble growth with very dilute concentrations of vacancy and gas atoms in the matrix. This model is applied to study single bubble growth and multiple bubble growth under various concentrations of vacancy and gas atoms and at various temperatures. The elastic effect and the effects of the generation rate of vacancies and gas atoms on bubble growth are analyzed.

low defect concentration, nuclear fuel, gas bubble↗

Numerical simulation of gas production from natural gas hydrate deposits with multi-branch wells: Influence of reservoir properties

Vast amounts of natural gas hydrate are buried in subseafloor sediments without impermeable boundaries, which is recognized as an essential energy source for the future. Previously, the multi-branch well was proposed to enhance the recovery efficiency of natural gas hydrate, and the gas production rate has been dramatically improved comparing with the vertical well. However, the multi-branch well shows a terrible performance in gas production duration. Here, as a continuation of the previous study, numerical simulations were conducted to investigate the influence of hydrate reservoir properties on the gas production potential. Results indicate that it is hard to extract hydrate commercially for hydrate accumulations without impermeable boundaries. A high initial hydrate saturation leads to a long gas production duration but a low gas production rate. An increase in the intrinsic permeability of isotropic reservoirs would shorten the gas production duration and result in a low gas recovery ratio. Permeability anisotropy shows a noticeable effect on enhancing the gas recovery ratio and the gas production duration due to the improved pressure propagation pattern. Therefore, in the upcoming field tests, reservoir reconstructions that enhance permeability anisotropy are strongly suggested to obtain better outcomes.

03 NATURAL GAS↗

Percolation connectivity, pore size, and gas apparent permeability: Network simulations and comparison to experimental data: Connectivity, Pore Size, and Gas Permeability

We modeled single-phase gas flow through porous media using percolation networks. Gas permeability is different from liquid permeability. The latter is only related to the geometry and topology of the pore space, while the former depends on the specific gas considered and varies with gas pressure. As gas pressure decreases, four flow regimes can be distinguished as viscous flow, slip flow, transition flow, and free molecular diffusion. Here we use a published conductance model presumably capable of predicting the flow rate of an arbitrary gas through a cylindrical pipe in the four regimes. We incorporated this model into pipe network simulations. We considered 3-D simple cubic, body-centered cubic, and face-centered cubic lattices, in which we varied the pipe radius distribution and the bond coordination number. Gas flow was simulated at different gas pressures. The simulation results showed that the gas apparent permeability k app obeys an identical scaling law in all three lattices, k app ~ (z-z c ) β , where the exponent β depends on the width of the pipe radius distribution, z is the mean coordination number, and z c its critical value at the percolation threshold. Surprisingly, (z-z c ) had a very weak effect on the ratio of the apparent gas permeability to the absolute liquid permeability, k app /k abs , suggesting that the Klinkenberg gas slippage correction factor is nearly independent of connectivity. We constructed models of k app and k app /k abs based on the observed power law and tested them by comparison with published experimental data on glass beads and other materials.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗

A preliminary study of the gas hydrate stability zone in a gas hydrate potential region of China

Abstract Due to its significance for gas hydrate accumulation, the gas hydrate stability zone (GHSZ) is an essential condition for successful gas hydrate exploration and is usually controlled by three main factors: gas components, geothermal gradient, and permafrost thickness. Based on the core and conventional log data of gas hydrate potential region, the CSMHYD program was adopted to simulate the influences of above three factors on the thickness of the GHSZ. When the gas components of the gas hydrate were CH 4 , C 2 H 6 , and C 3 H 8 , with the CH 4 percentage ranging from 50% to 100%, the average GHSZ thickness can reach 1000 m according to the forward simulation results. When the gas hydrate was composed of CH 4 and one of C 2 H 6 , C 3 H 8 , H 2 S, and CO 2 , the influence order of the above four gases on the thickness of GHSZ is as follows: H 2 S > C 2 H 6 > C 3 H 8 > CO 2 . Under the gas components of 90% CH 4 , 5% C 2 H 6, and 5% C 3 H 8 , the thickness of GHSZ decreased rapidly as the geothermal gradient increased following an exponential relation with a correlation of 99.92% and increased slowly as permafrost thickness increased following a linear relation with a correlation of 99.9%. In addition, the thickness of a gas hydrate favorable reservoir was determined by comprehensive log methods as 500 m. We conclude that a reservoir within 500 m below the permafrost layer is favorable for gas hydrate reservoir formation.

Xiao, Kun↗

The effects of total dissolved gas on chum salmon fry survival, growth, gas bubble disease, and seawater tolerance

Chum salmon Oncorhynchus keta alevin developing in gravel habitats downstream of Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River are exposed to elevated levels of total dissolved gas (TDG) when water is spilled at the dam to move migrating salmon smolts downstream to the Pacific Ocean. Current water quality criteria for the management of dissolved gas in dam tailwaters were developed primarily to protect salmonid smolts and are assumed to be protective of alevin if adequate depth compensation is provided. We studied whether chum salmon alevin exposed to six levels of dissolved gas ranging from 100% to 130% TDG at three development periods between hatch and emergence (hereafter early, middle, and late stage) suffered differential mortality, growth, gas bubble disease, or seawater tolerance. Each life stage was exposed for 50 d (early stage), 29 d (middle stage), or 16 d (late stage) beginning at 13, 34, and 37 d post-hatch, respectively, through 50% emergence. The mortality for all stages from exposure to emergence was estimated to be 8% (95% confidence interval (CI) of 4% to 12%) when dissolved gas levels were between 100% and 117% TDG. Mortality significantly increased as dissolved gas levels rose above 117% TDG,; with the lethal concentration that produced 50% mortality (LC50 ) was estimated to be 128.7% TDG (95% CI of 127.2% to 130.2% TDG) in the early and middle stages. By contrast, there was no evidence that dissolved gas level significantly affected growth in any life stage except that the mean wet weight at emergence of early stage fish exposed to 130% TDG was significantly less than the modeled growth of unexposed fish. The proportion of fish afflicted with gas bubble disease increased with increasing gas concentrations and occurred most commonly in the nares and gastrointestinal tract. Early stage fish exhibited higher ratios of filament to lamellar gill chloride cells than late stage fish, and these ratios increased and decreased for early and late stage fish, respectively, as gas levels increased; however, there were no significant differences in mortality between life stages after 96 h in seawater. The study results suggest that current water quality guidelines for the management of dissolved gas appear to offer a conservative level of protection to chum salmon alevin incubating in gravel habitat downstream of Bonneville Dam.

Geist, David R↗

THE EFFECT OF FUEL REACTIVITY AND EXHAUST GAS RECIRCULATION ON KNOCK PROPENSITY OF NATURAL GAS

The development of high efficiency, spark ignited natural gas engines is currently limited by engine knock at high compression ratio/elevated boost pressures and misfire at lean conditions/high exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) levels. The knock and misfire limits are further confounded by the wide variety in fuel reactivity observed in “pipeline quality” natural gas. In this study, a rapid compression machine was used to characterize the effects of EGR and variation in natural gas fuel reactivity on the homogeneous ignition delay, flame propagation rate, and end- gas autoignition propensity for stoichiometric natural gas/oxidizer/EGR blends. A reduced chemical kinetic mechanism was also developed to accurately model the homogeneous ignition delays measured in the Colorado State University rapid compression machine (CSU RCM). Pipeline quality natural gas with a range of chemical reactivity (68 < Methane Number < 95) was simulated using mixtures of CH4, C2H6, and C3H8. Exhaust gas recirculation gases were simulated with mixtures of Ar, CO2, CO, and NO at substitution rates of 0 to 30 mass percent. Ignition delay period under homogeneous autoignition conditions was measured at compressed pressures of 30.2 to 34.0 bar and compressed temperatures of 667 to 980 K. End-gas autoignition fraction and flame propagation rate were measured by initiating a laser spark in the center of the combustion chamber, after compression, at pressures of 30.7 to 32.7 bar and temperatures of 751 to 795 K. The results indicate that both fuel reactivity and the presence of reactive species (NO and CO) in the exhaust gas recirculation have a strong impact on end-gas autoignition fraction. A chemical kinetic mechanism was developed to predict homogeneous ignition delays for pipeline quality natural gas in a pressure and temperature range of 1-100 bar and 500-1000 K respectively. This mechanism accurately predicted measured homogeneous ignition delay in the RCM with a total average relative error of 11.0%.

Mohr, Jeffrey↗

A method for direct, semi-quantitative analysis of gas phase samples using gas chromatography-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry

A new and complete GC–ICP-MS method is described for direct analysis of trace metals in a gas phase process stream. The proposed method is derived from standard analytical procedures developed for ICP-MS, which are regularly exercised in standard ICP-MS laboratories. In order to implement the method, a series of empirical factors were generated to calibrate detector response with respect to a known concentration of an internal standard analyte. Calibrated responses are ultimately used to determine the concentration of metal analytes in a gas stream using a semi-quantitative algorithm. The method was verified using a traditional gas injection from a GC sampling valve and a standard gas mixture containing either a 1 ppm Xe + Kr mix with helium balance or 100 ppm Xe with helium balance. Data collected for Xe and Kr gas analytes revealed that agreement of 6–20% with the actual concentration can be expected for various experimental conditions. To demonstrate the method using a relevant “unknown” gas mixture, experiments were performed for continuous 4 and 7 hour periods using a Hg-containing sample gas that was co-introduced into the GC sample loop with the xenon gas standard. System performance and detector response to the dilute concentration of the internal standard were pre-determined, which allowed semi-quantitative evaluation of the analyte. The calculated analyte concentrations varied during the course of the 4 hour experiment, particularly during the first hour of the analysis where the actual Hg concentration was under predicted by up to 72%. Calculated concentration improved to within 30–60% for data collected after the first hour of the experiment. Similar results were seen during the 7 hour test with the deviation from the actual concentration being 11–81% during the first hour and then decreasing for the remaining period. The method detection limit (MDL) was determined for the mercury by injecting the sample gas into the system following a period of equilibration. The MDL for Hg was calculated as 6.8 μg · m -3 . This work describes the first complete GC–ICP-MS method to directly analyze gas phase samples, and detailed sample calculations and comparisons to conventional ICP-MS methods are provided.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

A (S)TEM Gas Cell Holder with Localized Laser Heating for In Situ Experiments

The advent of aberration correction for transmission electron microscopy has transformed atomic resolution imaging into a nearly routine technique for structural analysis. Now an emerging frontier in electron microscopy is the development of in situ capabilities to observe reactions at atomic resolution in real time and within realistic environments. Here we present a new in situ gas cell holder that is designed for compatibility with a wide variety of sample type (i.e., dimpled 3-mm discs, standard mesh grids, various types of focused ion beam lamellae attached to half grids). Its capabilities include localized heating and precise control of the gas pressure and composition while simultaneously allowing atomic resolution imaging at ambient pressure. The results show that 0.25-nm lattice fringes are directly visible for nanoparticles imaged at ambient pressure with gas path lengths up to 20 μm. Additionally, we quantitatively demonstrate that while the attainable contrast and resolution decrease with increasing pressure and gas path length, resolutions better than 0.2 nm should be accessible at ambient pressure with gas path lengths less than the 15 μm utilized for these experiments.

aberration correction↗

Linear Approximation Line Pack Model for Integrated Electricity and Natural Gas Systems OPF

With the increasing installation of renewable energy electricity generation capacity, the penetration of natural gas fired generation is also substantailly increasing in power systems due to their fast response capability to mitigate system variability and uncertainty. The dependencies between the electricity system and the natural gas system are becoming more important to maintain the reliability of both systems. In integrated electricity and natural gas systems (IEGSs) operations, the nonlinearity of the natural gas system brings challenges to the system operators. In this paper, the IEGSs optimal power flow (OPF) model is proposed that includes the line pack of the gas system via linear approximation. The simulation results demonstrate that the proposed model can obtain optimal solutions efficiently that are comparable in accuracy as the nonlinear line pack model.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

ALMA Observations of Gas-rich Galaxies in z ∼ 1.6 Galaxy Clusters: Evidence for Higher Gas Fractions in High-density Environments

We present ALMA CO (2–1) detections in 11 gas-rich cluster galaxies at z ∼ 1.6, constituting the largest sample of molecular gas measurements in z > 1.5 clusters to date. The observations span three galaxy clusters, derived from the Spitzer Adaptation of the Red-sequence Cluster Survey. We augment the >5 σ detections of the CO (2–1) fluxes with multi-band photometry, yielding stellar masses and infrared-derived star formation rates, to place some of the first constraints on molecular gas properties in z ∼ 1.6 cluster environments. We measure sizable gas reservoirs of 0.5–2 × 10{sup 11} M {sub ☉} in these objects, with high gas fractions ( f {sub gas}) and long depletion timescales ( τ ), averaging 62% and 1.4 Gyr, respectively. We compare our cluster galaxies to the scaling relations of the coeval field, in the context of how gas fractions and depletion timescales vary with respect to the star-forming main sequence. We find that our cluster galaxies lie systematically off the field scaling relations at z = 1.6 toward enhanced gas fractions, at a level of ∼4 σ , but have consistent depletion timescales. Exploiting CO detections in lower-redshift clusters from the literature, we investigate the evolution of the gas fraction in cluster galaxies, finding it to mimic the strong rise with redshift in the field. We emphasize the utility of detecting abundant gas-rich galaxies in high-redshift clusters, deeming them as crucial laboratories for future statistical studies.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗