Gas Shortage Research Articles

ICS-LTU2022: A dataset for ICS vulnerabilities

Industrial control systems (ICS) are a collection of control systems and associated instrumentation for controlling and monitoring industrial processes. Critical infrastructure relies on supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA), a subset of ICS specifically designed for monitoring and controlling industrial processes over large geographic areas. Cyberattacks like the Colonial Pipeline ransomware case have demonstrated how an adversary may compromise critical infrastructure. The Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack led to a week’s pipeline shutdown, causing a gas shortage in the United States. As existing vulnerability assessment tools cannot be used in the context of ICS systems, vulnerability datasets specified for ICSs are needed to evaluate the security weaknesses. Our secondary metadata, ICS-LTU2022, consists of multiple features that can be used for vulnerability assessment and risk evaluation in industrial control systems. A description of the dataset, its characteristics, and data analysis are also presented in this paper. Vulnerability analysis was conducted based on the top 10 vulnerabilities in terms of severity, frequency by year, impact, components of the ICS, and common weaknesses. The ICS-LTU2022 vulnerabilities dataset is updated biannually. Our proposed dataset provides security researchers with the most recent ICS critical vulnerabilities.

Standing with Ukraine? How citizens trade off self-interest and principles in supporting war-torn international partners

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is an attack on democracy, human rights, and the international order. While European democracies have supported their war-torn partner, Russia has sought to undermine public support by stopping its gas supply and imposing economic costs on European citizens. In consequence, Europeans find themselves caught between economic self-interest and principles. We present a theoretical argument and test how corresponding arguments for and against continued backing of Ukraine affect citizens’ support using experimental and observational data collected while concerns with gas shortage and inflation mounted in Germany and Denmark. We find that support for Ukraine does not falter due to economic concerns. In contrast, citizens become more supportive when presented with arguments related to human rights, democracy, and respect for territorial boundaries. We discuss implications for understanding citizens’ responses to autocratic power strategies and how support likely depends on the type of partner and domestic elite rhetoric.

Assessing the impact of seasonality on bioenergy production from energy crops in Germany, considering just‐in‐time philosophy

AbstractThe availability of biomass is strongly influenced by seasonality, which can affect the production of biofuels, biogas, and bio‐based products in the downstream bioenergy supply chain. Rapeseed, maize silage, sugar beet, wheat, and grass from grassland are the most popular energy crops; they play a significant role in the German bioenergy strategy and are being discussed extensively in the current gas shortage context. Most models in the literature assume yearly temporal resolution for these energy crops, which can negatively impact the accuracy of results. This problem is increasingly relevant under weather conditions that are varying increasingly due to climate change; in this study we therefore employ the extended bioenergy optimization model (BENOPTex) to explore the impact of seasonality on the optimal deployment of biomass from energy crops in bioenergy production in the German heat, power, and transport sectors, which typically show high dependency on fossil fuels. First, we increased the model's temporal resolution using available datasets and documents. Next, the varying availability factors were embedded in the optimization model, considering the no‐storage policy for energy crops in accordance with the just‐in‐time philosophy. Finally, the outcomes of the BENOPTex with annual resolution were contrasted with the results including the effects of seasonality, while considering various objective functions. We demonstrated a shift toward the consumption of woody biomass until 2045 due to its longer shelf life and improved storability. The energy demand stemming from summer leisure travel was also anticipated to exceed the bioenergy system's capacity. The insights provided here might be interesting for policymakers who design roadmaps for bioenergy development with a more resilient energy supply.

A bilevel programming model for cross-regional energy coordination mechanism to relieve China’s atmospheric pollution

The research motivation comes from the fact that the vigorously promoted ‘coal to gas’policy under the pressure of China’s Ministry of Environmental Protection(MEP) has led to severe gas shortage in many regions. This study explores a cross-regional energy coordination scheme, in which China’s MEP sets pollution transfer prices and pollution standards for each region, while each region determines its energy inputs and pollutant removal amounts. It is first formulated as a bilevel programming called PTEC and then it is transformed and a corresponding algorithm is proposed. To verify the effectiveness of the proposed model, the SO2 control in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Delta is finally selected. Results display that to meet the national pollution standards, the PTEC mode just need to reduce SO2 by 1.5434 million tons, which is 5.02% and 4.97% lower than the current command mode and the ‘coal to gas’ mode, respectively. Furthermore, the PTEC increases the industrial net output of Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei by 21.9037%, 43.4486%, and 11.0651% compared with the other two modes. Our study can provide certain reference significance for pollution control and energy structure optimization.

Study of Liquid‐Cooled Fuel Cell Stack Uniformity considering Global and Local Characteristics under Air Starvation Conditions

Gas starvation significantly affects the uniformity of stack. To reduce this phenomenon, a three‐dimensional, nonisothermal, and two‐phase full‐size liquid‐cooled stack model was developed, and the characteristics of the global and local nonuniformities of oxygen and liquid water in the flow field, membrane temperature, and current density were analyzed under sufficient oxygen supply and three different degrees of gas shortage. Advanced uniformity evaluation criteria (AUEC) were proposed to evaluate the overall uniformity of the stack, which can effectively characterize the local high nonuniformity of the cell units and the differences between edge and intermediate cell units. The results showed that with a decrease in cathode stoichiometric ratio, the AUEC of oxygen, liquid water, membrane temperature, and current density all decreased. The increase in the cooling liquid velocity increased the AUEC of the membrane temperature and current density in the stack, and the AUEC increased further when the oxygen supply was sufficient. In addition, the improvement scheme of GDL gradient porosity was proposed, which can effectively improve the uniformity of each parameter in the stack.

Israel/Hamas war leads to gas shortage in Egypt

Israel/Hamas war leads to gas shortage in Egypt

Short Selling, COVID-19 and the Regulators – Lessons Learned

Abstract 385Some national competent authorities (NCAs), as well as ESMA, have responded with short-selling bans and other restrictions to the COVID-19 pandemic. This approach has attracted criticism in both legal and economic literature. Although the COVID-19 pandemic has been overcome, or at least ways of dealing with COVID-19 have been found, it is of crucial importance for future EU short selling regulation how the legal basis of the measures for exceptional situations is designed and how the supervisory authorities will deal with it. This is valid not least because we are living in a time in which one crisis (COVID-19) follows the next (Ukraine war, gas shortage, inflation etc). Against this backdrop, this paper reviews the academic assessment of the supervisory approach taken and aims to contribute to an improved legislative and supervisory approach regarding short selling in (future) crises.386

Comprehensive Failure Diagnosis Model with Degradation Indicators of Multiple Sensors

Although monitoring system can detect abnormality of sensor reading in air-conditioning equipment, the root cause of the abnormality may not be sensor failure but other failures such as gas shortage. We propose new method that estimates the cause by the following steps. Firstly, regression model predicts the normal readings of multiple sensors (e.g., thermistor) for a given operational condition. Secondly, the gap between measured and predicted values is calculated for each parameter as a degradation indicator. Finally, our failure diagnosis model estimates the cause by considering degradation indicators of multiple sensors. Our evaluation verifies the effectiveness of our method.

Water management and performance enhancement in a proton exchange membrane fuel cell system using optimized gas recirculation devices

Fuel gas utilization and water management are particularly challenging integrated engineering problems in hydrogen-oxygen proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) systems. Ejectors are promising fuel cell exhaust gas recirculation devices that can be used to address both challenges. In this study, hydrogen and oxygen recirculation ejectors are designed and manufactured using three-dimensional (3D) printing technology. An experimental investigation on a 1 kW PEMFC system with anodic and cathodic dual-ejector- based gas recirculation is presented. Key parameters such as stack current, stack voltage, cell voltage, operating pressure, and mass flow rate at the primary flow and secondary flow of the anode ejector are measured. The performance of the PEMFC stack equipped with 3D-printed ejectors is compared to that of commercial ejectors. The experimental results reveal that the 3D-printed ejector significantly outperforms the commercial ejector in terms of entrainment ratio, with an improvement rate of up to 31.3%. The performance of the PEMFC stack in the dual-ejector recirculation mode increased by 4.75% with a current density of 320 mA cm−2 compared with dead ended mode in 130 kPa. Furthermore, the dual-ejector recirculation mode of the PEMFC stack outperforms that of the dead-end anode and cathode mode during dynamic loading by alleviating the gas shortage problem of the PEMFC stack.

Collaborative and selfish mitigation strategies to tackle energy scarcity: The case of the European gas crisis

Following the disruption of Russian natural gas flows to Europe, we investigate the impact of collaborative and selfish behavior of European countries to tackle energy scarcity and supply electricity, heat, and industrial gas to end users. We study how the operation of the European energy system will need to adapt to the disruption and identify optimal strategies to overcome the unavailability of Russian gas. Those strategies include diversifying gas imports, shifting energy generation to non-gas-based technologies, and reducing energy demands. Findings suggest that: (1) selfish behavior of Central European countries exacerbates the energy scarcity for many Southeastern European countries; (2) proactive collaborative energy savings, together with a mild winter, can fully relieve the stress of the gas shortage; (3) diversification of gas imports leads to bottlenecks in the gas network, especially in Southeastern Europe; and (4) electricity generation is mostly shifted to coal-based power plants, causing higher carbon emissions.

Performance analysis and dynamic characteristics of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell with dual recirculation pumps for air-free applications

The exhaust gas recirculation strategy is usually used to ensure the stable and continuous operation of hydrogen–oxygen proton exchange membrane fuel cells (H2/O2 PEMFCs). However, few studies have focused on how the operating conditions of recirculation pumps affect the dynamic characteristics and performance of H2/O2 PEMFCs. In this study, a PEMFC system with dual anodic and cathodic gas recirculation pumps is investigated and the dynamic performance of the stack is also studied. The pump mode is proven to alleviate water flooding and enhance the stack performance effectively. When the rotating speed of recirculation pump reaches 5000 revolutions per minute, it can increase the gas flow rate inside the stack channel to 0.44 m s−1 (equivalent to a stoichiometric ratio of 2.85), which terminates the low-velocity flow inside the H2/O2 PEMFC and facilitates the removal of liquid water inside the stack. Moreover, the voltage undershoot during the current loading process is moderated by increasing the intake flow rate of the fuel gas through the pump-based recirculation subsystem, which could effectively solve the gas shortage problem of the stack. The presented findings are expected to provide more insights into the impact of the gas recirculation strategy on the performance of high-power stacks.

Multi-objective decision making of natural gas distribution optimization considering clean heating——evidence from Beijing

ABSTRACT Since the implementation of China’s clean heating plan in 2017, the progress of natural gas replacing coal for heating is still not ideal. With the proposal of the goal of carbon neutralization and the impact of international war, the price, supply, and demand of natural gas have attracted attention. In case of gas shortage, reasonable schemes are required to be allocated to different industries and categories. Therefore, this research divides the gas field into four levels according to the social utility, and establishes the multi-objective distribution optimization model considering the social and economic benefits. The solution of the model is based on genetic algorithm and realized on MATLAB. Multi-objective optimization strategies and several constraints are used to make the algorithm’s process of the search is continuously moving closer to the Pareto optimal front. Taking Beijing as an example, two scenarios are set to simulate and optimize, so as to verify the optimization effect of the model. Better quantitative results are created after reallocation of natural gas. The ideal scenario realizes 5.64% more social benefits than 2019 through additional allocation of 117.288 million cubic meters of reserve gas. The constraint scenario creates 0.67% more socialbenefits with only 0.07% decrease of the economic benefits. The conclusions show that allocating more gas to three main industries can improve the optimization effect and it is necessary to expand the supply of natural gas reserve volume. This paper provides a new perspective of natural gas allocation category and priority, providing theoretical and practical ideas for the planning of natural gas security emergency plan and the development of gas sales plan.

Supply reliability analysis of natural gas pipeline network based on demand-side economic loss risk

• An evaluation method for the economic loss risk on the demand side of a natural gas pipeline network system in a certain period is proposed. • User priorities are considered when there is a shortage of gas in the pipeline network. • The economic consequences on the demand side are quantified in terms of the alternative energy costs. • The effect of supply sequence of users on gas supply reliability is described. Most studies on the natural gas supply reliability evaluation have reflected on whether the volume of gas supply to users is sufficient. However, different types of users suffer from the same natural gas shortage, the consequences of loss are different. The abundance of the supplied gas volumes does not reflect the actual losses incurred by users. Moreover, when a gas shortage occurs, the supply flow of different types of users is redistributed according to the supply order. Therefore, this study proposes an evaluation method for the gas supply reliability based on demand-side economic risk. The user's supply sequence is integrated into the cost matrix to optimize the distribution of the user's demand flow under gas shortage. A calculation model of the economic loss cost is established using alternative energy sources. Finally, a reliability index is established based on economic risk to evaluate the degree of supply security. The results showed that the reliability based on the economic risk assessment was slightly higher than that based on the gas quantity assessment. The reliabilities were 99.988% and 99.991%, respectively. The economic risk is reduced and the reliability is improved for the important users after considering the influence of the demand-side supply order.

Does regional natural gas supply produce a shortfall under transition from coal to gas? Case study in Jing-Jin-Ji Region

Coal-to-Gas Switching policy plays an important role in improving the environment. However, how to balance gas shortage and environmental quality, has become a serious problem in China. We establish a supply optimization model with the objective of minimizing total supply costs, and the constraints of gas supply capacity, flow balance of each node, as well as effective work volume of gas storage reservoir etc. Jing-Jin-Ji region is chosen as case study and we find that the added demand for Coal-to-Gas switching is 12.607 billion cubic meters by the end of 2021, which is made up by mixed gas imported from Central Asian and Tarim, and increases the total cost by 46.5%. Simultaneously, if the Central Asian gas is cut-off, LNG can be a supplement in peak season, but the system costs will increase 17.5%. If the imported gas from Central Asian is cut-off and the gas from Russia further reduces 8 billion cubic meters in 2025, then a shortage will occur. This study is helpful for government to figure out the risk boundary of supply network, and explore the most appropriate measures to ensure gas security, such as balance ratio of spot and long-term LNG contracts and effective cooperation mechanisms.

An equation of state and a phase diagram for gas-hydrate-forming slurries in gas-shortage

Slurries of gas hydrates, especially mixed hydrates of CO2 and TBPB (Tetra-n-Butyl Phosphonium Bromide), are currently under consideration for secondary refrigeration. Secondary refrigeration circuits contain wide sections where the two-phase slurry (solid + liquid), separated from the gas phase, undergoes transformations that would if gas were present, lead to both hydrate formation and gas dissolution. The absence of gas hinders these processes: the slurry is in gas shortage. The analysis demonstrates that, although thermodynamically distant from three-phase equilibria, slurries in gas-shortage are in equilibrium. For describing their thermodynamic state, the notion of CO2 partial pressure in a gas mixture is introduced, which leads to an equation of state and a new phase diagram with temperature or enthalpy versus CO2 mass-fraction. This diagram complements those commonly used for three-phase systems. The thermal behavior of slurries in gas shortage is then investigated, leading to the possibility of future experimental validation of the present analysis.

Wind Turbine Power Control According to EU Legislation

Due to high electricity prices and possible shortages of gas and other energy commodities, various fluctuations in electricity generation will need to be regulated. Given the increasing expansion of wind power plants in Europe and worldwide. It is necessary and essential to put power regulation into practice, as mandated by regulation 2016/631 EU. A significant power balance problem may arise on the grid, which may lead to cyclical and recurring blackouts in the future. The motivation for this paper is to raise awareness of the controllability of wind turbines and to highlight the gentle pace of research in this area for pitch angle control. Therefore, the chief idea of the paper is to develop a proposal for wind power plant power control by changing the rotor blade rotation, following previous research in this area, and determining the shortcomings and possibilities. The paper provides a numerical method for controlling the power output of a wind power plant, for which an algorithm has been proposed. This control is intended to provide a framework for the design and implementation of a wind power plant control program. Coordination between the multiple sources will fulfil a leading role in smooth power management.

Potential Solutions for the Short to Medium-Term Natural Gas Shortage Issues of Europe: What Can Qatar Do?

European countries are required to look for alternative gas suppliers to deliver energy security for Europe. Qatar has been proposed to be an alternative gas supplier; however, there are problems that limit Qatar from exporting more gas to Europe, namely: the limited LNG quantities available for export, the long-term fixed contracting strategy, and the lack of room to receive additional gas in European LNG terminals. As these problems are critical and limit Qatar from exporting more gas to Europe, this research aims to propose potential solutions to overcome them. The results show that to solve the issue of the limited LNG quantities available for export, Qatar can produce electricity from renewable sources and export the gas consumed for power production, and can produce renewable natural gas (RNG) from green hydrogen and captured carbon dioxide. Two BCM of natural gas can be exported if 15% of the electricity required is produced from renewables in Qatar. In addition, 0.45 BCM of RNG can be exported if Qatar uses its natural resources to produce 5000 MW of renewable power. Redirecting contracts coming to an end and increasing dependence on spot markets can resolve the issue of a long-term fixed contracting strategy. Finally, using floating import terminals may alleviate the problem of European LNG terminals running out of room to receive more gas.

Research on the Cooperation of Emergency Response Subjects for the Shortage of Urban Natural Gas Energy

This paper deals with the urgent problem of urban natural gas shortage. In order to improve emergency efficiency, enhance emergency efforts, and reduce urban disaster losses, the differential game theory is firstly applied for constructing a tripartite dynamic game model. Then, based on the Hamilton–Jacobi–Bellman (HJB) equation, the optimal effort degree, natural gas energy shortage, and maximum urban loss are obtained in three cases, i.e., spontaneous governance mode, superior dominant mode, and cooperative mode. The results show that the effort of provincial government, local government, and natural gas emergency enterprise is positively related to the emergency shadow, the impact of effort and natural gas energy attenuation coefficient of provincial government, local government, and enterprise, but it is negatively related to the emergency cost coefficient and the discount rate. From the perspective of emergency shortage and total urban loss, the government-enterprise cooperation mode turns out to be the best emergency mode, while the spontaneous governance mode remains the worst. At the same time, the government implements subsidies and incentives for nongovernmental organizations involved in emergency response, which is more conducive to the emergency of natural gas shortage in heavily suffering cities.

METHANATION TECHNOLOGIES FOR PRODUCING SYNTHETIC RENEWABLE METHANE

Methanation, or the generation of synthetic methane through the combination of carbon dioxide and hydrogen, has been attracting more and more attention of researchers and energy scientists in recent years due to the fact that the development of an effective and economically feasible technology for the implementation of this process will allow solving a number of energy and environmental problems. First, it is the accumulation of excess renewable electricity from solar and wind power plants by using it in the creation of another energy-intensive product, namely synthetic natural gas, which removes the problem of coordinating unstable sources of electricity with energy networks. Secondly, methanation becomes another technology for enriching biogas and turning it into biomethane, which will allow it to be used through existing gas networks and contribute to solving the problem of natural gas shortage.
 The development and improvement of methanation technologies are engaged in many organizations of the world - Germany, Denmark, France, the USA, Japan and others. Research is conducted in two main directions: catalytic methanation and biological methanation. In the first direction, methanation is carried out through the Sabatier reaction using catalysts. The problems of such methanation are: the development of catalysts with high activity, selectivity and resistance to the heat of reaction, the provision of optimal reaction modes, in particular temperature and pressure, through the use of various methods of reactor cooling, control of the reaction mechanism, the use of three-phase reactors, changing their structure, and so on. Biological methanation is carried out using of biological methanogens - so-called archaea, which act as a kind of catalyst. The methanation is carried out either directly in the biomass anaerobic digestion reactor (in-situ methanation) or in a separate reactor into which biogas and hydrogen are fed separately (ex-situ methanation). One of the main problems of in-situ methanation is the simultaneous provision of optimal conditions for both acetoclastic and hydrogenotrophic methanogens. This problem is solved by ex-situ methanation, in which the optimal conditions for anaerobic digestion and methanation processes are provided separately. It is clear that optimal conditions are also provided for biomethanation of pure CO2 and H2, when the «broth» for archaea is created separately. A comparison of catalytic and biological methanation technologies shows that catalytic methanation provides higher energy efficiency and requires much smaller reactor sizes than biological methanation for the same methane yield. However, the latter has a higher resistance to harmful impurities than the catalytic one.

Pathways to Overcoming Natural Gas Dependency on Russia—The German Case

The war in Ukraine has sensitized German policy makers towards the negative economic impact of a curtailment of natural gas flows from Russia. Given its large import dependency, Germany has implemented regulatory measures for mitigating a possible gas shortage and is seeking to diversify from pipeline imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG). In this context, we provide a comprehensive review of the natural gas crisis in Europe and place it in the context of the peculiar role of natural gas in Germany. We critically discuss the economic impact of an embargo, and assess demand and supply factors capable of mitigating a supply shortage. We derive a short-term import substitution potential of 13 bcm, assuming timely installation of Floating Storage and Regasification Units (FSRUs). We discuss the potential for demand reductions in the power sector, in industry consumption, and in households, and estimate a combined maximum of 24.1 bcm. Under decreased industrial demand, the most optimistic scenario indicates an import gap of about 9 bcm for a one-year perspective. Given our findings, we advocate for the delayed phasing out of coal and nuclear power, the accelerated deployment of renewable energy, and caution in the initial execution of storage quotas and restrictions to industrial consumers.