The energy security and climate change risks of fossil fuel consumption have stimulated interest in developing renewable energy sources. Canada’s vast biomass potential is an attractive local resource but high transportation costs are a barrier to implementation. This study assesses how transformative systems can enable large-scale bioenergy production through integration with existing transportation corridors and fossil fuel infrastructure. Potential bioenergy corridors include the network of natural gas pipelines and the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway (GLSLS). Sustainable lignocellulosic biomass production integrated with traditional food and fibre production was assumed to occur on 196 Mha of land within 100 km of pipelines. Conservative (81 Mt of dry biomass per year) and aggressive (209 Mt) scenarios were investigated for converting biomass to synthetic natural gas (SNG) via gasification, methanation, and upgrading, yielding enough pipeline-quality gas to meet 20% to 60% of Canada’s current needs. A systems analysis approach was used to calculate bioSNG life-cycle emissions of 15 to 18 kgCO2e GJ-1, compared to 68 or 87 for conventional or liquefied natural gas, respectively. Production costs ranged from $16 to $20 GJ-1, which were high compared to regional gas prices ($5 to $10 GJ-1). The biomass potential on 125 Mha of land area within 100 km of the Canadian portion of the GLSLS and railway lines ranged from 36 to 80 Mt(dry) per year, which was enough to displace coal-fired power in Ontario plus produce 1.6 to 11 billion L of green diesel that could offset 14% to 96% of fossil diesel in GLSLS provinces. Life-cycle emissions ranged from 110 to 130 gCO2e kWh-1 for biopower (compared to 1030 for coal) and 20 to 22 kgCO2e GJ-1 for green diesel (compared to 84 for conventional diesel). Cost estimates ranged from $130 MWh-1 for biopower (compared to an average market power price of $54 MWh-1) and $28 to $36 GJ-1 for green diesel (compared to $16 to $24 GJ-1 for diesel). The auxiliary benefits (energy security, climate change, air quality, and rural development) were seen as justification for supportive bioenergy policies. / Thesis (Master, Environmental Studies) -- Queen's University, 2008-12-09 15:24:18.389

The EU transport sector is currently extremely dependent on foreign oil and the import bill for this fuel was in 2011 approximately € 210 billion. The European Commission (EC) claims that this dependency will eventually affect the member states’ economic security and mobility as oil is a finite resource. At the same time, the transport sector needs to reduce its CO2 emissions with 60% until 2050. Therefore in 2013, the EC proposed the “Directive on the Deployment of Alternative Fuels Infrastructure”, which purpose is to create road fuel infrastructure for the alternative fuels electricity, hydrogen and, the main focus of this report, natural gas. The EC believes that infrastructure acts as a major barrier for the adoption of natural gas vehicles (NGV), which in the EU has been extremely limited. The scientific community agrees that infrastructure is an important barrier, but not the sole decider for the market penetration of NGV’s. Empirical evidence claims that in order for large-scale adoption to occur, natural gas needs to be priced at least 40% lower than conventional fuels (gasoline, diesel) and the payback period (the added investment cost of an NGV) must be lower than four years. Historical data shows that if these criteria are not met this will lead to market failure, even if the adequate infrastructure is in place. The two criteria are examined in this report in the four of the largest EU countries: Germany, UK, France and Spain whom together account for a majority of all vehicles registered in 2012. Italy was excluded as it has already has a well-developed NGV fleet. Two car models from different price ranges in NGV, gasoline and diesel versions were studied: the Fiat Punto and the Audi A3 Sportback. Payback periods where calculated based on yearly average annual distances travelled per country, fuel prices, vehicle fuel efficiency and the added investment cost for an NGV compared to gasoline and diesel vehicles. In order to compare fuel prices default energy content values were used to convert CNG into gasoline and diesel equivalents. As the price of CNG is heavily dependent on favorable taxation one needs to question the economic sustainability, and therefore this study also analyses the future price difference between gas and the conventional fuels using a supply and demand model with oligopoly conditions. This model was complemented with the 4 A’s method, which are Availability, Accessibility, Affordability and Acceptability. Results show that the conditions for NGV’s compared to diesel vehicles are optimal in Germany, UK and Spain, as they all have fuel price difference of minimum 40% and payback periods significantly below 4 years. As a majority of all new vehicles registered in the EU are diesel models this will have a strong positive impact on the NGV market. The conditions for the gasoline comparisons are suboptimal, or slightly inconclusive as the payback periods in a few cases are above, or just below four years. As default values have been used during calculations the numbers are sensitive to change and simply too uncertain to draw any solid conclusions. The price differences between CNG and gasoline are within the criteria level of 40%. The price difference analysis between oil and natural gas shows great uncertainty, as there are many factors involved, such as environmental and geopolitical. A potential factor that could decouple prices is “fracking” of domestic EU shale gas resources, but this seems unlikely to happen due to environmental, social and economical reasons. Imported US LNG could have a similar effect but it might be exported east in order to meet the increasing demand from countries in Asia pacific. In conclusion, if the Directive on the Deployment of Alternative Fuels Infrastructure was implemented we would likely see a moderate to high market penetration of NGV’s, mostly due to their comparative advantage towards diesel vehicles. As gasoline meets the fuel price difference criteria this will also have a positive effect on the NGV market albeit limited by questionable payback periods.

Despite the huge national energy resources, many Nigerians do not have access to high quality, modern energy services. For those with access, energy supply lacks reliability, especially in the case of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). Hence this research considers the possibility of enhancing the household use of LPG. It analyzes the factors affecting the current demand and supply. Salient features of the LPG supply and distribution system were also discussed. On the basis of the existing situation, barriers of increasing LPG use, in particular, the problems regarding affordability, priCing, government poliCies, safety, transportation and distribution were analyzed and identified statistically using the chi-square statistical method as a tool. Finally, on the basis of the challenges identified, suggestions and recommendations were made regarding the policies through which the problems could be overcome. Furthermore, a model was developed and tested for an effective marketing strategy of LPG in Warri Nigeria. ii / Thesis (M.Ing. (Development and Management Engineering))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

The goal is of this project was to identify principles to guide the development of high performance dense film membranes for natural gas sweetening using hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide gas mixtures as models under aggressive sour gas feed conditions. To achieve this goal, three objectives were developed to guide this research. The first objective was to study the performance of cellulose acetate (CA) and an advanced crosslinkable polyimide (PDMC) dense film membrane for H₂S separation from natural gas. The second objective was to engineer those polymers to produce membrane materials with superior performance as measured by efficiency, productivity, and plasticization resistance, and the third objective was to determine the separation performance of these engineered membrane materials under more aggressive, realistic natural gas feeds, and to perform a detailed transport analysis of the factors that impact their performance. Work on the first objective showed that in neat CA, penetrant transport is controlled by both the solubility and mobility selectivity, with the former being more dominant, leading to a high overall CO₂/CH₄ (33) and H₂S/CH₄ (35) ideal selectivities. However, in uncrosslinked PDMC, H₂S/CH₄ selectivity favored sorption only, whereas CO₂/CH₄ selectivity favored both mobility and sorption selectivity, leading to a high CO₂/CH₄ (37) but low H₂S/CH₄ (12) ideal selectivities. However, the latter polymer showed more plasticization resistance for CO₂. In the second objective, both materials were engineered. A new technique referred to as “GCV-Modification” was introduced in which cellulose acetate was grafted using vinyltrimethoxysilane (VTMS), then hydrolyzed and condensed to form a polymer network. PDMC was also covalently crosslinked to enhance its performance. GCV-Modified CA showed significant performance improvements for H₂S and CO₂ removal; the permeability of CO₂ and H₂S were found to be 139 and 165 Barrer, respectively, which represented a 30X and 34X increase compared to the pristine CA polymer. The H₂S/CH₄ and CO₂/CH₄ ideal selectivities were found to be 39 and 33, respectively. Crosslinked PDMC showed a higher CO₂/CH₄ selectivity of 38 with a better plasticization resistance for CO₂ and H₂S. In the third objective, these materials were tested under aggressive ternary mixtures of H₂S/CO₂/CH₄ with both vacuum and nonvacuum downstream. Even under aggressive feed conditions, GCV-Modified CA showed better performance vs. PDMC, and it remained were fairly stable, making it a potential candidate for aggressive sour gas separations, not only because of its significantly higher productivity, which will help decrease the surface area needed for separation, thereby reducing operating costs, but also because of the lower cost of the raw material GCV-Modified CA compared to PDMC.

Despite the huge national energy resources, many Nigerians do not have access to high quality, modern energy services. For those with access, energy supply lacks reliability, especially in the case of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). Hence this research considers the possibility of enhancing the household use of LPG. It analyzes the factors affecting the current demand and supply. Salient features of the LPG supply and distribution system were also discussed. On the basis of the existing situation, barriers of increasing LPG use, in particular, the problems regarding affordability, priCing, government poliCies, safety, transportation and distribution were analyzed and identified statistically using the chi-square statistical method as a tool. Finally, on the basis of the challenges identified, suggestions and recommendations were made regarding the policies through which the problems could be overcome. Furthermore, a model was developed and tested for an effective marketing strategy of LPG in Warri Nigeria. ii / Thesis (M.Ing. (Development and Management Engineering))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

This dissertation presents results from a complex seismic study using Ocean Bot¬tom Seismometers (OBS) conducted at a site of deep sea gas hydrate occurrence. The site is located on the accretionary margin of the northern Cascadia subduction zone offshore Vancouver Island. Canada. The major objectives for this study were the construction of a 3-D velocity model around the Bullseye vent zone by the means of travel time inversion tomography and the analysis of the amplitude data for reflections from the water-sediment interface and the bottom simulating reflector (BSR). Secondary objectives included the integration of the results from this study with previous knowledge about the vent zone for further clarification of its structure and evolution. The OBS seismic data set consisted of 22 parallel lines at 200 in spacing with three perpendicular crossing lines recorded on five OBS stations. Multichannel and single channel conventional seismic data along these lines were also acquired. The OBS experiment geometry required corrections for the coordinates of sources and receivers initially obtained in the field. A new comprehensive source and receiver localization technique was developed for the case of stationary hydrophones and multiple seismic lines. The horizontal size of the created 3-D velocity model is 3 km x 2.7 km. The modelled volume is limited by the seafloor at the top and by the BSR at the bottom. The size of a grid cell is 50 m x 50 m x 20 m. The uncertainty for the velocity value of individual cells was as low as 20 m/s. although the resolution of the model was reduced by the sparse receiver geometry. The inversion results indicate a fairly uniform velocity field around and inside the vent zone. Velocities are nearly equal to values expected for sediments containing no hydrate, which supports the idea that the bulk concentrations of gas hydrates are low at the site. The largest velocity anomaly with an amplitude of +25 m/s is spatially associated with the limits of the blank zone. The anomaly suggests greater gas hydrate concentrations inside the vent zone than outside. Low vertical resolution of the model did not provide information on the depth distribution of the hydrate. However, the combination of the information from the velocity inversion with previous studies suggests that the zone of high hydrate concentration (15-20% of the pore space) associated with a hydrate lens, located at the top of the sediment section. The vent site is characterized by a negative anomaly of the seafloor reflection coefficient, outlined by a high amplitude rim. The low reflection coefficient is believed to be the result of the processes taking place above the hydrate lens, methane venting in particular. and the high amplitude rim to be the effect of carbonate formation. The seafloor reflection coefficient zonation appears to be correlated with the distribution of low magnetic susceptibility zone in the first 8 in of the sediment section. Both phenomena can be related to the distribution of upward fluid flow at the vent site. The cause of the blanking phenomena is likely different for different frequencies of the seismic signal. The blanking at high frequencies is an effect of near-surface disturbed sediments due to active venting and, possibly. free gas presence at the top of the vent zone. The blanking for the middle range of seismic frequencies is mostly the effect of reduced impedance contrast between the sediment layers inside the blank zone due to local presence of gas hydrates in small concentrations (2-3%). It is concluded that. the Bullseye vent zone, which shows very low activity presently, was probably much more active in the past (similar to a mud volcano). The past ac¬tivity may have led to the formation of the bathymetric expression of the vent site (a mound), together with the hydrate lens and authigenic carbonates.

This thesis explores the legal and political contexts in which offshore oil and gas (OOG) decisions in British Columbia's Queen Charlotte Basin (Basin) are being made and situates these decisions within Canada's integrated coastal and oceans management (ICOM) strategy. The geography, ecology and current ocean uses of the Basin are reviewed and environmental impacts of OOG considered. The federal-provincial jurisdictional and ownership complexities and issues of aboriginal rights and title are then reviewed. Canada's efforts to implement ICOM through the Oceans Act and subsequent policies are assessed. as compared to the U.S. model and in light of international principles. Core ICOM principles of sustainability, integration. precaution and transparency are specifically reviewed. While Canada's oceans strategy is consistent with internationally-accepted principles, it falls short of a true ICOM regime and is not sufficiently developed to resolve the OOG debate. Nonetheless, OOG decisions can and should be guided by its principles.

Membrane separations are rapidly growing alternatives to traditionally expensive gas separation processes. For natural gas purification, membranes are used to remove carbon dioxide to prevent pipeline corrosion and increase the heating value of the natural gas. The robust chemical and physical properties of polyimide membranes make them ideal for the numerous components and high pressures associated with natural gas production. Typically, the performance of membranes changes over time as a result of physical aging of the polymer. Previous work shows that the thin selective layer of an asymmetric hollow fiber membrane, the morphology of choice for gas separations, ages differently than a thick dense film of the same material. Also, carbon dioxide, which is highly soluble in most polymers, can actively swell and plasticize polymer membranes at higher pressures. In this work, free acid groups present in the model polyimide are covalently crosslinked to stabilize the matrix against plasticization. Physical aging of two different crosslinked derivatives are compared to the free acid polyimide through gas permeation, gas sorption, and refractive index measurements. Thick (~50 m) and thin (~650 nm) films are examined to determine the effects of sample dimension on physical aging. The crosslinking mechanism employs diol substituents to form ester linkages through the free acid group. However, the annealing treatment, above the glass transition temperature, used to "reset" the thermal history of the films is found to form a new crosslinked polymer. Characterization of this new crosslinking mechanism reveals a high-temperature decarboxylation of the free acid creates free-radical phenyl groups which form covalent crosslinks through other portions of the polymer structure. Since ester crosslinks may be vulnerable to hydrolysis in aggressive gas feed streams, this new mechanism of crosslinking may create a more robust membrane for aggressive separations. In addition to the physical aging study, supercritical carbon dioxide conditioning of the two glycol crosslinked polyimides is compared to the free acid polymer. In this case, the free acid polymer is not crosslinked since the esterification crosslinking reaction occurs at much lower temperature than the decarboxylation mechanism. The free acid polymer displays an atypical permeation response under supercritical carbon dioxide conditions which suggests a structural reorganization of the polymer occurs. The crosslinked polymers do not exhibit this type of response. Mixed gas permeation confirms a substantial decrease in the productivity of the free acid polyimide and reveals the enhanced stability of the crosslinked polyimides following the supercritical carbon dioxide conditioning. Finally, examination of structurally similar fluorine-containing polyimides following approximately 18 years of aging allows the study of polymer structure on physical aging. A 6FDA-based polyimide is compared to a BPDA-based polyimide to understand the effects of bulky, CF3 groups on physical aging, and polyimides with diamine isomers reveal the effects of structural symmetry on physical aging.

Applications of natural gases that contain high levels of hydrogen have become a primary interest in the gas turbine market. For reheat gas turbines, understanding of the ignition delay times of high-hydrogen natural gases is important for two reasons. First, if the ignition delay time is too short, autoignition can occur in the mixer before the primary combustor. Second, the flame in the secondary burner is stabilized by the ignition delay time of the fuel. While the ignition delay times of hydrogen and of the individual hydrocarbons in natural gases can be considered well known, there have been few previous experimental studies into the effects of different levels of hydrogen on the ignition delay times of natural gases at gas turbine conditions. In order to examine the effects of hydrogen content at gas turbine conditions, shock-tube experiments were performed on nine combinations of an L9 matrix. The L9 matrix was developed by varying four factors: natural gas higher-order hydrocarbon content of 0, 18.75, or 37.5%; hydrogen content of the total fuel mixture of 30, 60, or 80%; equivalence ratios of 0.3, 0.5, or 1; and pressures of 1, 10, or 30 atm. Temperatures ranged from 1092 K to 1722 K, and all mixtures were diluted in 90% Ar. Correlations for each combination were developed from the ignition delay times and, using these correlations, a factor sensitivity analysis was performed. It was found that hydrogen played the most significant role in ignition delay time. Pressure was almost as important as hydrogen content, especially as temperature increased. Equivalence ratio was slightly more important than hydrocarbon content of the natural gas, but both were less important than pressure or hydrogen content. Further analysis was performed using ignition delay time calculations for the full matrix of combinations (27 combinations for each natural gas) using a detailed chemical kinetics mechanism. Using these calculations, separate L9 matrices were developed for each natural gas. Correlations from the full matrix and the L9 matrix for each natural gas were found to be almost identical in each case, verifying that a thoughtfully prepared L9 matrix can indeed capture the major effects of an extended matrix.

The safe, economically viable and sustainable extraction, transportation and processing of remote sub-sea hydrocarbon reserves presents many challenges. The limits of technology are increasingly being stretched in order to find and produce more natural gas and oil. Sub-sea processing is seen as a very promising, fast emerging, technology that has the potential to meet the increasing demands for hydrocarbon resources. / As an integral part of a current research project into the development of a unique subsea natural gas dehydration system is the need to have a robust, highly reliable power generation system. This power system must be continually operated within a harsh, remote environment. The proposed system must not only display extremely high reliability, but also have the ability to draw on its surrounding resources such as wave motion, wind and solar energy to supplement / wholly utilize for the primary source of energy. / This thesis reviews current power generating technologies, including their adaptation and fuel requirements / sources, which can be applied to the sub-sea gas dehydration plant power demands.