Remote Power Generation for Applications to Natural Gas Grid: A Comprehensive Market Review of Techno-Energetic, Economic and Environmental Performance

Abstract

The operation of natural gas grids requires electric-powered devices as data acquisition and control systems, surveillance and communication appliances, etc., often located in remote, unpopulated off-the-grid areas, where there is no personnel for surveillance, and maintenance costs are prohibitive. The literature on the power generating systems for these devices is limited to specific applications without a comparison between competing technologies, making their choice a difficult task for natural gas operators. This work presents a comprehensive up-to-date survey of market available technologies for remote power generation in the range of 20–1000 W for gas grid applications: thermoelectric generators, solid acid, direct methanol and solid oxide fuel cells, Stirling engines and microturbines. The work aims at sorting the technologies by techno-energetic, economic and environmental performance while providing specific technological characteristics and limitations. The results indicate well-defined ranges of power in which only some of the technologies are suitable and have very different efficiencies (3–30%). The capital cost of equal power technologies is similar (EUR 5000–30,000) and roughly linear with power (34.8Pel + EUR 6553), whereas operation costs (10–120 cEUR/kWh) and lifetime (0.5–20 yr) significantly depend on the technology. The indications of this review may constitute helpful guidelines to choose properly power generation systems for remote applications.