PAS-based analysis of natural gas samples

Marc-Simon Bahr; Marcus Wolff

doi:10.3389/fchem.2023.1328882

PAS-based analysis of natural gas samples

Front Chem. 2023 Dec 21:11:1328882. doi: 10.3389/fchem.2023.1328882. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Marc-Simon Bahr^{1

2}, Marcus Wolff¹

Affiliations

¹ Heinrich Blasius Institute of Physical Technologies, Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, Hamburg, Germany.
² School of Computing, Engineering and Physical Sciences, University of the West of Scotland, Paisley, United Kingdom.

Abstract

Photoacoustic spectroscopy (PAS) is well known for the detection of short-chain hydrocarbons, such as methane, ethane and propane, in the ppm (parts per million) or ppb (parts per billion) range. However, in the production process of natural gas and its combustion in gas-fired devices the composition, especially the concentrations of the main alkanes, plays a decisive role. Gas chromatography (GC) is considered the gold standard for natural gas analysis. We present a method to analyze natural gas samples by PAS. Furthermore, we describe a method to prepare storage gas samples, which are usually under atmospheric pressure, for PAS analysis. All measurements are validated by means of GC. The investigation allows conclusions to be drawn to what extent PAS is suitable for the investigation of natural gas samples.

Keywords: hydrocarbons; interband cascade laser; main alkanes; natural gas; photoacoustic spectroscopy.

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This research was funded by Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, Grant No. 67KI2075. We acknowledge support for the article processing charge by the Open Access Publication Fund of Hamburg University of Applied Sciences.