Combustion Properties Determination of Natural Gas Using Thermal Conductivity and CO2 Content

Natural gas composition depends on when and where it is recovered. Variations of composition affect the performance of combustion systems and the accuracy of delivered energy in fiscal gas metering. This paper presents a methodology to determine combustion properties of natural gases (higher heating value, Wobbe index and the stoichiometric air-fuel ratio). A pseudo-gas formulation is used to determine a composition of the most influent constituents of the natural gas. The pseudo-composition is then determined by solving a nonlinear system of equations using thermal conductivity at three levels of temperature and the carbon dioxide concentration. The tested natural gases are chosen to represent typical European gases as well as to account for large variations of individual components. The error on the combustion properties is less than 0.5% for the most of the examined gases and below 1% for gases with high carbon dioxide fractions.