• Journal of the Korean Institute of Gas
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.8-14
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• 2015

Synthetic natural gas(SNG), acquired from coal, is regarded as an alternative to natural gas since a rise in natural gas due to high oil price can be coped with it. In the present study, 11-liter heavy duty compressed natural gas(CNG) engine was employed in order to examine the combustion and emission characteristics of SNG. The simulated SNG, made up 90.95% of methane, 6.05% propane and 3% hydrogen was used in the experiment. Power output, thermal efficiency, combustion stability and emission characteristics were compared to those with CNG at the same engine operating conditions. Knocking phenomenon was also analyzed at 1260 rpm, full load condition. Combustion with SNG was more stable than CNG. Nitrogen oxides emissions increased while Carbon dioxides emissions decreased. Anti-knocking characteristics were improved with SNG.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Gas
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.67-71
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• 2018

The calorific value of general synthetic natural gas(SNG) mainly composed of methane is $9,300kcal/m^3$ or less. In order to use such synthetic natural gas as city gas in Korea, it is necessary to heat up to $10,200kcal/m^3$. Generally, propane gas is commonly used to control the calorific value of SNG. However, the price of propane gas has fluctuated widely and has been higher than the cost of producing SNG. So if the high-calorie SNG can be produced directly instead of the calorie control by propane mixing, the production price of SNG can be significantly reduced. In this paper, based on the US NETL analysis, we compare the cost of methane based SNG production and the cost of high-calorie SNG direct production.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.412-419
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• 2012

Increasing demand for natural gas and higher natural gas prices in the recent decades have led many people to pursue unconventional methods of natural gas production. POSCO-Gwangyang synthetic natural gas (SNG) project was launched in 2010. As the market price of natural gas goes up, the increase of its price gets more sensitive due to the high cost of transportation and liquefaction. This project can make the SNG economically viable. In parallel with this project, KEPCO (Korea Electric Power Corporation) joined in launching the SNG Quality Standard Bureau along with KOGAS (Korea Gas Corporation), POSCO and so on. KEPCO Research Institute is in charge of SNG fueled gas turbine combustion test. In this research, several combustion tests were conducted to find out the effect of hydrogen contents in SNG on gas turbine combustion. The hydrogen in synthetic natural gas did not affect on gas turbine combustion characteristics which are turbine inlet temperature including pattern factor and emission performance. However, flame stable region in ${\Phi}$-Air flow rate map was shifted to the lean condition due to autocatalytic effect of hydrogen.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2011.11a
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• pp.75.1-75.1
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• 2011

Coal gasification is considered as one of the most prospective technologies in energy field since it can be utilized for various products such as electricity, SNG (Synthetic Natural Gas or Substitute Natural Gas) and other chemical products. Among those products from coal gasification, SNG is emerging as a very lucrative product due to the rising prices of oil and natural gas, especially in Asian countries. The process of SNG production is very similar to the conventional IGCC in that the overall process is highly dependent on the type of gasifier and coal rank. However, there are some differences between SNG production and IGCC, which is that SNG plant requires higher oxygen purity from oxygen plant and more complex gas cleanup processes including water-gas shift reaction and methanation. Water-gas shift reaction is one of the main process in SNG plant because it is a starting point for the latter gas cleanup processes. For the methanation process, syngas is required to have a composition of $H_2$/CO = 3. This study reviewed various considerations for water-gas shift process in a conceptual design on an early stage like a feasibility study for a real project. The factors that affect the design parameters of water-gas shift reaction include the coal properties, the type of gasifier, the overall thermal efficiency of the plant and so on. Water-gas shift reaction is a relatively proven technology compared to the other processes in SNG plant so that it can reduce technological variability when designing a SNG project.

• 한국연소학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2014.11a
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• pp.147-148
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• 2014

This article describes an investigation of flame stability characteristics with various compositions of synthetic natural gas (SNG) in dual swirl combustor. The objective of this study is to investigate the flame stabilization, flame structure, fuel compatibility using chemiluminescence measurement in SNG with varying fuel compositions. As experimental conditions, hydrogen content was adjusted from 0 to 11%. Experimental results show that the addition of hydrogen has a major effect on flame behavior due to the higher burning rates associated with hydrogen consequently, The higher reaction activity of hydrogen has extended lean blow-off limit. Especially, DI flame limit has improved more 12.1%.

• 한국연소학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2015.12a
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• pp.109-112
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• 2015

This article describes a cellular instability and laminar burning velocity of simulated synthetic natural gas(SNG) including 3% hydrogen. In this study, experimental apparatus is employed using cylindrical bomb combustor, and investigation is carried out with high speed camera and Schlieren system. The cellular instability is caused by the buoyancy, hydrodynamic instability. Unstretched burning velocity can be determined by extrapolated stretch rate of zero point from measured results. These results were also compared with numerical calculation by Chemkin package with GRI 3.0, USC-II, WANG, C3 Fuel mechanism. As an experimental conditions, equivalence ratios was adjusted from 0.8 to 1.3. From results of this work, the one was found that the cellular instability has occurred by effect of thermal expansion rate and flame thickness. As the other results, unstretched laminar burning velocity was best coincided with GRI 3.0 mechanism.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.36 no.8
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• pp.865-871
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• 2012

Because of the increasing cost of oil and natural gas, energy production technologies using coal, including synthetic natural gas (SNG) and integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC), have attracted attention because of the relatively low cost of coal. During the early stage of a project, the developer or project owner has many options with regard to the selection of a gasifier. In particular, from the viewpoint of feasibility, the gasifier is a key factor in the economic evaluation. This study compares the technical aspects of gasifiers for a real SNG production project in an early stage. A fixed-bed slagging gasifier, wet-type entrained gasifier, and dry-type entrained gasifier, all of which have specific advantages, can be used for the SNG production project. Base on a comparison of the process descriptions and performances of each gasifier, this study presents a selection guideline for a gasifier for an SNG production project that will be beneficial to project developers and EPC (Engineering, Procurement, Construction) contractors.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.57 no.3
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• pp.420-424
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• 2019

In SNG (synthetic natural gas) process by proposed RIST(Research Institute of Industrial Science & Technology)-IAE(Institute for Advanced Engineering) (including three adiabatic reactors and one isothermal reactor), the methanation reaction and water gas shift (WGS) reaction take place simultaneously, and the supply of steam with syngas might control the temperature in catalyst bed and deactivate the catalyst. In this study for development of SNG process, the characteristics of the methanation reaction with a Ni-based catalyst by prepared RIST and using a low $H_2/CO$ mole ratio (including $CO_2$ 22%) are evaluated. The operating conditions ($H_2O/CO$ ratio of the $1^{st}$ adiabatic reactor, operating temperature range of $4^{th}$ isothermal reactor, etc.) were reflected the results from previous studies and in the same condition a pilot scale SNG process is carried out. As a results, the pilot scale SNG process is stable and the CO conversion and $CH_4$ selectivity are 100% and 96.9%, respectively, while the maximum $CH_4$ productivity is $660ml/g_{cat}{\cdot}h$.

• Clean Technology
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.57-63
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• 2014

In this work, we performed the methanation with steam and synthesis gas of a low $H_2/CO$ ratio to develop a process for producing SNG (synthetic natural gas). In this experiment conditions, the water gas shift reaction and the methanation reaction take place at the same time, and insufficient supply of steam might cause the deactivation of the catalyst. Therefore, the reaction characteristics with the amount of steam was performed, and the methanation on syngas containing $CO_2$ of the high concentration were studied. As a result, the temperature in the catalyst bed decreased by the supply of steam, and the methanation and the water gas shift reaction occurred at the same time. Although methane yield slightly decreased at the methanation using syngas containing $CO_2$ of the high concentration, the long-term operation (1,000 h) in the experimental conditions of this study indicates that this condition is suitable for the new commercial scale SNG process.

• Journal of Energy Engineering
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.1-11
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• 2017

While they are becoming more viable, synthetic natural gas (SNG) plants, with their high temperatures and pressures, are still heavily dependent on advancements in the state-of-the-art technologies. However, most of the current work in the literature is focused on optimizing chemical processes and process variables, with little work being done on relevant mechanical damage and maintenance engineering. In this study, a combination of pipe system stress analysis and detailed local stress analysis was implemented to prioritize the inspection locations for main pipes of SNG plant in accordance to ASME B31.3. A pipe system stress analysis was conducted for pre-selecting critical locations by considering design condition and actual operating conditions such as heat-up and cool-down. Identified critical locations were further analyzed using a finite element method to locate specific high-stress points. Resultant stress values met ASME B31.3 code standards for the gasification reactor and lower transition piece (bend Y in Fig.1); however, it is recommended that the vertical displacement of bend Y be restricted more. The results presented here provide valuable information for future risk based maintenance inspection and further safe operation considerations.