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Method and apparatus for determining the heating value of a gaseous fuel
| Details |
Inventors: Fini, Anselmo;
Assignee: Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation (Syracuse, NY)
Primary Examiner: Chapman; John
Assistant Examiner: Roskos; Joseph W.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Heslin & Rothenberg
A method and apparatus are described for determining the heating value of natural gas. The apparatus utilizes a chromatographic column, and a first sensor connected by a length of tubing in series with a second sensor, all of which are placed in a thermally isolated chamber, in order to keep the temperature constant. The method operates on a principle of comparison of the mass of natural gas, which contains hydrocarbons, higher hydrocarbons, and noncombustibles, with the mass of pure methane. In determining the heating value of the natural gas, the amount of noncombustibles present in the natural gas is determined, and this amount is subtracted from the mass of the natural gas to yield the mass of the hydrocarbon content. From the mass of the hydrocarbon content, the amount of higher hydrocarbons in the natural gas is determined. Once this is complete, the amount of methane present in the natural gas is calculated and that value along with the value representative of the higher hydrocarbon content are used to calculate the heating value of the natural gas. |
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION The primary object of the present invention is to provide a process and apparatus capable of determining the heating value of a gaseous fuel in a simpler, and more economical manner than with previously known methods.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a process and apparatus for determining the heating value of natural gas in an on-line manner.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a process and apparatus for determining the heating value of natural gas without combustion.
The foregoing and other object are accomplished in accordance with the present invention by a principle of comparing the mass of natural gas to the mass of a reference gas, e.
g.
, pure methane, under the same conditions of temperature and pressure.
The heat content of a natural gas which is entirely composed of hydrocarbons is proportional to the mass of the natural gas.
However, most natural gases are not composed entirely of hydrocarbons, but also contain small amounts of noncombustibles, such as nitrogen and carbon dioxide, which introduce an error into the determination of the heating value.
Therefore, it is important to determine the amount of noncombustibles in the natural gas so that the determined amount is not used in the determination of the heating value.
In a preferred process embodiment of the invention, a chromatographic column and two mass sensors connected in series are used to determine the heating value of natural gas.
The two mass sensors are initially purged with a reference gas, e.
g.
, methane, and then, natural gas is allowed to flow through the heat content meter bypassing the chromatographic column.
At the point in the flow when the natural gas reaches the first mass sensor, methane is still present at the second mass sensor.
Readings are taken at both mass sensors and these values are used to determine the mass of the natural gas.
Next, the chromatographic column and the two mass sensors are purged with methane.
Then, the natural gas is permitted to flow through the chromatographic column
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