Looking for a natural gas additive (Combustion improver)
Looking for a natural gas additive (Combustion improver)
(OP)
I want to know if already exist a good additive (combustion improver) for natural gas, I also want to Know if its posible to add a liquid additive to a gas combustible.
Thanks
Alejandro
Thanks
Alejandro





RE: Looking for a natural gas additive (Combustion improver)
RE: Looking for a natural gas additive (Combustion improver)
RE: Looking for a natural gas additive (Combustion improver)
http://virtualpipeline.spaces.msn.com
RE: Looking for a natural gas additive (Combustion improver)
Seriously, gas ain't liquid. With a liquid, you can add chemicals to do most anything from controlling salt to enhancing combustion. With a gas the tendency is for any liquid atomized into the flow to eventually (nanoseconds? microseconds? not very long) coalesce into larger drops and settle to the bottom of the pipe. I've seen hundreds of different chemicals added to thousands of natural gas lines and have never seen a single case where it achieved the desired results.
The common scenario is for people to have a corrosion failure in part of their gathering system (due to localized conditions) and start adding chemicals to prevent a recurrence. Sometime in the future (months, generally not years) they'll start looking at their upstream line pressure and find that it has gone up dramatically. If the lines are piggable and they can make themselves analyze the liquid they find that the corrosion chemical has come home all at once. For a non-piggable line they have very few diagnostic options but eventually either install more compression or stop the chemicals.
Gas simply lacks the specific mass (density) to transport liquids any significant distance or with any reliably repeatable results. I don't think your octane enhancer has a chance.
David
RE: Looking for a natural gas additive (Combustion improver)
RE: Looking for a natural gas additive (Combustion improver)
What do you think zdas and dcasto?
gsteng
RE: Looking for a natural gas additive (Combustion improver)
http://virtualpipeline.spaces.msn.com
RE: Looking for a natural gas additive (Combustion improver)
Adding natural gas heavires will lower the octane. Iso Butane is 98 octane, normal pentane is 62 octane, iso butane is very valuable commodity, don't want to burn it.
When we run 1350 BTU/cf field gas, we have to retard the ignition, lower the boost and unload the engine from the nameplated Horsepower. Instead, we send back the leanest gas we have back to the fuel so we can load up the engine. Catapillar and Waukesha have a fuel rateing program that will take a gas composition and rerate the engine from its designed 1000 BTU/cf to the new composition.
RE: Looking for a natural gas additive (Combustion improver)
lombardo asked "I want to know if already exist a good additive (combustion improver) for natural gas, "
Wouldn't increasing the BTU content improve the combustion? Even thought it would not increase the octane?
I understand what you are saying about the problems with high BTU content, we also face the same issues and I did not know about what you said about octane rating. But I am making the assumption that for some reason (CO2, N2...) lombardo has a low btu gas that he is having trouble with. THat being said if he has less than 1000BTU/cf he should addres the removal of the non combustibles before attempting to add some high dollar heavies.
The cost factor aside, would adding pentane or butane help improve combustion? or would there be other issues I am not aware of?
RE: Looking for a natural gas additive (Combustion improver)
To remove inerts can be quite expensive with N2 being the most expensive so injection of high btu componets is better.
I've injected propane to increase BTU/cf because it was in the contract that the gas had to be 950 BTU/cf, but more importantly, the gas had to meet certain Wobie or Wobbie index values.
RE: Looking for a natural gas additive (Combustion improver)
You will have a heck of a time controlling the BTU content and therefore the the AFR when mixing propane or other heavier HC's. Be ready to derate your engines HP. Most engine manufacturers have methane index computers to adjust the AFR (or ECU) based on a given gas composition.