Addressing Gas Quality Concerns with New Testing Approaches and Monitoring Equipment

GTI Energy is developing cost-effective constituent testing equipment and new methodologies for testing levels of specific contaminants.

With funding from Operations Technology Development, NFP (OTD), GTI Energy is providing a fact-based, objective study on the quality, analysis, risk, and compo­sitional variability of final end-use grade biomethane. The goal is to provide the industry with sound science and clear facts to demonstrate that biomethane is safe to inject into a distribution or transmission pipeline if properly processed.

In another project, GTI Energy is working to identify sensor systems that can detect and analyze all trace contaminants of concern in biomethane gas on-line and offer immediate insights to gas quality. This will ensure that only fully up­graded biomethane is injected into the gas stream. Phase 1 identified several technologies that meet this criteria, and their performance will be validated in Phase 2.

Researchers are also conducting studies looking at analytical techniques, sampling methods, and sampling materials to develop a universal analytical technique for determining siloxane content in biomethane.