American Gas - April 2011 - (Page 5)

in the knoW Industry InsIghts Gas Quality: When Science and policy intersect More than six years after the release of the NGC+ technical reports on gas interchangeability, the industry continues to assess gas quality. it hAs been six yeArs since the natural Gas council (nGc) technical teams issued white papers addressing the science and policy concerns of hydrocarbon liquid dropout and natural gas interchangeability. have the papers helped to bridge the gap between science and policy regarding gas quality issues, or are we still an industry divided? Natural Gas Quality Debate: A History Lesson The history of natural gas supply, transportation and use in the United States has been marked by several cycles of change related to increased demand for fuel gases and development of new and diverse gas sources. Gas quality considerations figure prominently in the industry’s ability to adapt to such changes since the variability of natural gas and its associated constituents affects all industry sectors from wellhead to burner tip. In addition, regulatory drivers associated with the evolution of open access to and unbundling of pipelines have resulted in the need for enhanced gas quality and measurement specifications contained within pipeline tariffs. (For details, see AGA Report No. 4A, Natural Gas Contract Measurement and Quality Clauses; http://www.techstreet.com/ cgi-bin/results?publisherFilter=12&searchText =AGA+Report+No.+4A.) Prior to 1945 most of the fuel gases throughout North America were produced locally or manufactured from coal specifically for a given geographic area. Over the next several decades, new sources of natural gas were discovered, and a vast network of interstate and intrastate pipelines, currently known as the “pipeline grid,” was constructed to deliver new supplies to the marketplace. As the pipeline grid expanded to crisscross the North American continent, most local gas manufacturing ceased, and the demand for natural gas delivered by interstate and intrastate pipelines increased dramatically. The gas from new sources of supplies with varying compositions did not affect the gas transmisROBERT D. WILSON is director, materials and standards at National Grid. This article is based on a presentation Wilson gave at the AGA Operations Conference in 2010. Copies of the proceedings are available for purchase at www.techstreet.com/ cgi-bin/results?publisherFilter=12&searchText=2 010&submit=Search. AGA members receive a 50 percent discount when they access the proceedings after logging into www.aga.org. AmericAn GAs April 2011 A purge burner igniting manufactured gas being replaced in a main by natural gas during the “great conversion” in 1952. PHOTO COURTESY OF NATIONAL GRID 5 http://www.techstreet.com/cgi-bin/results?publisherFilter=12&searchText=AGA+Report+No.+4A http://www.techstreet.com/cgi-bin/results?publisherFilter=12&searchText=AGA+Report+No.+4A http://www.techstreet.com/cgi-bin/results?publisherFilter=12&searchText=AGA+Report+No.+4A http://www.techstreet.com/cgi-bin/results?publisherFileter=12&searchText=2010&submit=Search http://www.techstreet.com/cgi-bin/results?publisherFileter=12&searchText=2010&submit=Search http://www.techstreet.com/cgi-bin/results?publisherFileter=12&searchText=2010&submit=Search http://www.aga.org

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Gas - April 2011

American Gas - April 2011
Contents
President’s Message Safety Is Job One
In the Know Gas Quality: When Science and Policy Intersect
In the News
Safety First Partnering for Progress
The New Realities of the Natural Gas Industry: From Wellhead to Customer
Part I: Then There Was Abundance
Part II: through the Pipeline
Part III: Priority Pathways for Growth
Going for the Green
Places to Be
Noteworthies
Advertisers’ Index
Jobline
Marketplace
Facts on Gas

American Gas - April 2011