Natural Gas Advancements For Industrial Customers

Outsourcing of jobs. Plants moving offshore. U.S. industrial manufacturing has seen tough times in recent years - and natural gas has been part of that journey.

The U.S. economy, however, remains undergirded by a highly productive and continually changing manufacturing sector.

Even after years of stiff international competition and turmoil, The Manufacturing Institute reports the U.S. remains the world leader in industrial output at $1.6 trillion (22% of world production) – a fact that would surprise many.

A productive and vibrant manufacturing sector is the key to economic growth and exports. And, with an expanding domestic supply, natural gas is poised to help manufacturers improve their competitive positioning while also tackling challenges such as reducing carbon emissions.

Energy Information Administration data show the U.S. industrial sector consumes more than 7.5 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of natural gas – in key sectors such as chemicals, food production, primary metals, nonmetallic minerals, paper, fabricated metal products and others – including producing natural gas. U.S. manufacturers are also actively using combined heat and power (CHP) systems, with nearly 1 Tcf of natural gas being used in CHP systems to efficiently generate power and heat for the industrial sector.

Gas Technology Institute (GTI) has a robust industrial RD&D program, aimed at ensuring natural gas remains a key energy source that helps manufacturers enhance their global competitiveness by boosting productivity, increasing energy efficiency and cost-effectively addressing environmental regulations. Many of GTI’s industrial RD&D projects are leveraged public-private initiatives with manufacturing partners, equipment suppliers, the natural gas industry, the U.S. Department of Energy Industrial Technologies Program (DOE-ITP), state organizations such as the California Energy Commission (CEC) and others.

The following case studies highlight three real-world technology developments aimed at improving industrial competitiveness, increasing energy efficiency and reducing carbon emissions.

Case Study No. 1 - Transport Membrane Condenser: A Manufacturing Innovation
With tremendous quantities of energy and water being lost out exhaust stacks in the U.S every day, industrial boilers and other equipment are throwing away more than $10 billion per year in waste energy. The majority of these industrial systems miss the opportunity to effectively recover low-temperature sensible and latent heat.

The innovative transport membrane condenser (TMC) technology developed by GTI enables efficient, cost-effective and environmentally clean natural gas-fired processes (including but not limited to steam generation) by capturing sensible and latent waste heat and water vapor from exhaust flue gases. When used with industrial and commercial boilers, the technology is the cornerstone of an advanced heat recovery system (AHRS) that boosts fuel-to-steam efficiency to as high as 95% (on a higher heating value basis) while also recovering usable, clean water from the natural gas combustion products.

Baxter Transport Membrane Condenser (TMC) Installation photograph