Experimental performance of a modular turbojet combustor burning natural gas fuel
Swirl-can modular turbojet combustor burning natural gas fuel
Marchionna, N. R.↗
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Fuel tank for liquefied natural gas
A storage tank is provided for storing liquefied natural gas on, for example, a motor vehicle such as a bus or truck. The storage tank includes a metal liner vessel encapsulated by a resin-fiber composite layer. A foam insulating layer, including an outer protective layer of epoxy or of a truck liner material, covers the composite layer. A non-conducting protective coating may be painted on the vessel between the composite layer and the vessel so as to inhibit galvanic corrosion.
DeLay, Thomas K.↗
Efficient Synthetic Natural Gas Production from Direct Air Capture Using Titania-Based Dual Function Materials
Converting atmospheric CO2 into methane offers a compelling pathway to store intermittent renewable electricity and enhance energy security using existing natural gas infrastructure. However, current CO2 utilization approaches remain energy- and capital-intensive, largely due to the need for separate capture, purification, and conversion steps. Integrating CO2 capture with catalytic methanation represents a transformative strategy for process intensification on both the unit operation and molecular levels. We report a series of Ru-Na/TiO2 dual function materials (DFMs) for a reactive carbon capture (RCC) process consisting of simulated direct air capture and subsequent CO2 methanation (DACM). Superior methane desorption purity was observed on TiO2-based DFMs (>94 %) relative to state-of-the-art Al2O3-supported DFMs (77 %). Modifying the process to begin CO2 adsorption immediately following the methanation stage, rather than beginning adsorption near ambient temperature, resulted in >97 % methane desorption purity, suitable for injection into the natural gas pipeline without additional CO2 separation steps.
organic↗
Thermodynamic and transport properties of air and its products of combustion with ASTMA-A-1 fuel and natural gas at 20, 30, and 40 atmospheres
The isentropic exponent, molecular weight, viscosity, specific heat at constant pressure, thermal conductivity, Prandtl number, and enthalpy were calculated for air, the combustion products of ASTM-A-1 jet fuel and air, and the combustion products of natural gas and air. The properties were calculated over a temperature range from 300 to 2800 K in 100 K increments and for pressures of 20, 30 and 40 atmospheres. The data for natural gas and ASTM-A-1 were calculated for fuel-air ratios from zero to stoichiometric in 0.01 increments.
Poferl, D. J.↗
Improving anaerobic digestion of sewage sludge to renewable natural gas by the Advanced Pretreatment & Anaerobic Digestion technology (APAD): Pilot testing
Conventional anaerobic digestion (AD) of sewage sludge in wastewater treatment facilities suffers from low carbon conversion efficiency (CCE = 40%) and requires costly CO2 removal for injection of the produced CH4 into the natural gas grid. To address these limitations, we developed the Advanced Pretreatment and Anaerobic Digestion (APAD) process. This integrates Advanced Wet Oxidation & Steam Explosion (AWOEx) pretreatment of residual sludge after conventional AD, followed by biogas upgradation using a novel methanogenic strain, Methanothermobacter wolfeii BSEL, converting CO2 with H2 into CH4 or RNG (renewable natural gas). Pilot-scale results demonstrated that AWOEx pretreatment achieved a CCE of 62% for the residual sludge, 68% higher than the conventional AD process. The CH4 production was further increased by 79%. Subsequent biogas upgrading in a trickling bed reactor with H2 further enhanced total methane output by 100% and resulted in a final CO2 concentration of =3%. The integrated APAD process achieved a remarkable overall CCE of 83%, resulting in a 200% increase in RNG output when compared to conventional AD. Techno-economic analysis revealed that AWOEx pretreatment alone reduced sludge treatment costs from $494 to $253 per ton of dry solids. The complete APAD process incurred a higher cost of treatment of $530 per ton, driven by prices for bottled H2. The process did, however, show gains in energy recovery and decarbonization. Renewable H2, which may reduce in price in the near future, can positively improve the economics of biogas upgrading for the APAD process.
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)↗
Techno-economic analysis and life cycle analysis of renewable natural gas production from brewery wastewater via ex-situ methanation processes
As sustainability becomes increasingly critical, the brewing industry encounters challenges in managing high-organic-content wastewater, a promising renewable energy source. This study evaluates the economic feasibility and environmental impacts of converting brewery wastewater into renewable natural gas (RNG) through anaerobic digestion and biogas upgrading, with an emphasis on different hydrogen sources for biomethanation. Four scenarios were analyzed: Scenario 1 uses purchased hydrogen, while Scenarios 2–4 use renewable hydrogen from microbial electrolysis cells and water electrolyzers. Results show that capital investments for processing 139 MT/h of wastewater, yielding 208 m 3 /h of RNG, range from 10.6 M to 31.9M USD, with estimated minimum selling prices of RNG between 2.25 and 4.37 USD/m 3 . Life cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions span from -21 to 32g CO 2 -equivalent per MJ of RNG. Further, this study presents key economic and environmental metrics for RNG production from brewery wastewater, offering insights to enhance sustainability in brewery wastewater management.
03 NATURAL GAS↗
Effects of fuel nozzle design on performance of an experimental annular combustor using natural gas fuel
Tests of various fuel nozzles were conducted with natural gas fuel in a full-annulus combustor. The nozzles were designed to provide either axial, angled, or radial fuel injection. Each fuel nozzle was evaluated by measuring combustion efficiency at relatively severe combustor operating conditions. Combustor blowout and altitude ignition tests were also used to evaluate nozzle designs. Results indicate that angled injection gave higher combustion efficiency, less tendency toward combustion instability, and altitude relight characteristics equal to or superior to those of the other fuel nozzles that were tested.
Wear, J. D.↗
Bibliography on Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) safety
Approximately 600 citations concerning safety of liquefied natural gas and liquid methane are presented. Each entry includes the title, author, abstract, source, description of figures, key references, and major descriptors for retrieving the document. An author index is provided as well as an index of descriptors.
Ordin, P. M.↗
NREL's 1MW Water Electrolysis Stack Performance Validation to Pilot-Scale Renewable Natural Gas Production [Slides]
NREL has designed, built, and operates a 1MW water electrolyzer balance-of-plant to support industrial partners and the U.S. Department of Energy in developing next-generation PEM stacks to reduce the cost of hydrogen production. With that hydrogen, we are developing, innovating and de-risking a biomethanation process capable of megawatt-scale deployment that upgrades biogas waste streams to produce pipeline quality renewable natural gas (RNG). Biomethanation is a two-step process using a methanogenic microorganism to convert renewable hydrogen (H 2 ) and waste carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) to renewable methane (CH 4 ) - the primary component in natural gas. Using biogenic CO 2 from biogas sources like dairies, wastewater treatment plants, and landfills allows production of this drop-in direct replacement fuel. Research projects and future R&D topics are also discussed during the presentation.
08 HYDROGEN↗
Examination of Factors Affecting the Cost and Performance of a Natural Gas Combined Cycle Equipped with Carbon Dioxide Capture
The purpose of this Technical Note is to report the findings of an examination of the effect of plausible deviations in select study assumptions on the reported cost and performance estimates for a power plant case drawn from NETL’s “Cost and Performance Baseline for Fossil Energy Plants Volume 1: Bituminous Coal and Natural Gas to Electricity” (known as the Fossil Energy Baseline). An F-Class NGCC power plant equipped with state-of-the-art, solvent-based, post-combustion carbon dioxide (CO2) capture (95 percent carbon capture rate)—designated as Case B31B.95—was selected for this work. This sensitivity analysis provides insight into the effects of parameter variations within and across selected categories—ambient conditions, construction cost, natural gas (NG) price, capacity factor, and finance—on the plant performance and capital and operating and maintenance (O&M) costs, and the subsequent impact on common figures of merit.
20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS↗
Microwave Catalysis for Process Intensified Modular Production of Carbon Nanomaterials from Natural Gas
The objective of this project was to develop a novel, low-cost process intensified modular process to directly convert flare gas or stranded gas to carbon nanomaterials and co-product hydrogen (H 2 ) with high conversion, selectivity, and stability. The proposed project was based on our exciting exploratory research on a patent pending technology for one-step conversion of natural gas to carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and carbon fibers (CNFs) without emitting CO 2 : CH 4 → H 2 + C (CNT, Carbon Fibers).
03 NATURAL GAS↗
Comments on “Failure analysis of corroded hydrogen-blended natural gas pipelines based on finite element analysis and genetic algorithm-back propagation neural network” [262 (2025) 111174]
This is a brief commentary paper to highlight and discuss the determination of hydrogen concentration in pipeline steel, effect of hydrogen embrittlement (HE) on the mechanical properties of the material, burst strength of corroded pipelines using finite element analysis (FEA) simulations, and curve-fit models for assessing remaining strength of X80 corroded pipelines for transporting hydrogen blended natural gas. Recently, Xie et al. [1] proposed a methodology to quantify the impact of HE on material properties and numerically determined burst pressure of X80 corroded pipelines. However, their HE quantification overestimated the degradation of tensile strength for hydrogen blending ratios beyond the original data range, and their FEA results of burst pressure are nonconservative. This work thus recharacterized the hydrogen concentration in the steel pipeline and the effect of HE on tensile strength, and then redetermined burst pressures for a set of typical corrosion defect cases considered by Xie et al. [1] based on an experimentally validated FEA modelling method. With the new FEA results, two empirical corrosion models were proposed for X80 corroded pipelines for hydrogen service. At zero hydrogen blending ratio, the novel empirical models predict burst pressures to be consistent with the industry-accepted corrosion models. Furthermore, both the numerical simulation method and the novel corrosion models are significant contributions to the pipeline industry and the hydrogen community. Application of these results will enhance the safety, reliability, and integrity of natural gas pipelines when used to transport hydrogen.
Burst pressure prediction↗
Tables of critical-flow functions and thermodynamic properties for methane and computational procedures for both methane and natural gas
Procedures for calculating the mass flow rate of methane and natural gas through nozzles are given, along with the FORTRAN 4 subroutines used to make these calculations. Three sets of independent variables are permitted in these routines. In addition to the plenum pressure and temperature, the third independent variable is either nozzle exit pressure, Mach number, or temperature. A critical-flow factor that becomes a convenient means for determining the mass flow rate of methane through critical-flow nozzles is tabulated. Other tables are included for nozzle throat velocity and critical pressure, density, and temperature ratios, along with some thermodynamic properties of methane, including compressibility factor, enthalpy, entropy, specific heat, specific-heat ratio, and speed of sound. These tabulations cover a temperature range from 120 to 600 K and pressures to 3 million N/sq m.
Johnson, R. C.↗
Risk management of liquefied natural gas installations
In connection with the construction of four major liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities in New York City, the New York City Fire Commissioner has asked NASA for assistance. It was decided that the Kennedy Space Center should develop a risk management system (RMS) for the use of the New York Fire Department (NYFD). The RMS provides for a published set of safety regulations by the NYFD. A description of the RMS is presented as an example of an application of aerospace technology to a civilian sector, namely LNG facilities.
Fedor, O. H.↗
Model Validation Database for Fires Involving Fuels at Liquefied Natural Gas Facilities (Version 2)
This document provides a description of the model evaluation protocol (MEP) database for fires involving liquefied natural gas (LNG) and processing fuels at LNG facilities. The purpose of the MEP is to provide procedures regarding the assessment of a model’s suitability to predict thermal exclusion zones resulting from a fire. The database includes measurements from pool fire, jet fire, and fireball experiments which are provided in a spreadsheet. Users are to enter model results into the spreadsheet which automatically generates statistical performance measures and graphical comparisons with the experimental data. The intent of this document is to provide a description of the experiments and of the procedure required to carry out the validation portion of the MEP. In addition, the statistical performance measures, measurements for comparisons, and parameter variation are provided.
03 NATURAL GAS↗
Direct solar self-catalyzing pyrolysis of natural gas to hydrogen and high-quality graphite (Final Technical Report)
This project, led by researchers at UCLA in partnership with Southwest Solar Technology (SST) and SolGrapH, successfully demonstrated a new method for producing clean hydrogen fuel and high-quality graphite using concentrated solar energy. The primary goal was to develop a technology that converts natural gas (primarily methane) into two valuable products—hydrogen gas and solid carbon—without releasing carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere. This process, known as solar thermal pyrolysis, uses heat from the sun to split the methane molecules directly.
03 NATURAL GAS↗
Performance of a turbojet combustor using natural gas fuel heated to 1200 F /922 K/
Turbojet combustor performance using natural gas fuel heated to 1200 F
Fear, J. S.↗
Stability limits and efficiency of swirl-can combustor modules burning natural gas fuel
Stability limits and efficiency of swirl can combustor modules burning natural gas fuel
Marchionna, N. R.↗