Fuel interchangeability investigation of new Russian PNG for conventional gas appliances

Because of Korea's planned import of low-heating-value fuel from Russia, its applicability to household, power generation, and industry needs to be evaluated. In this study, the compatibility of imported fuels from Russia to household gas appliances was studied. The combustion characteristics of three types of piped natural gas (PNG1, PNG2, and PNG3) were investigated by using a simulation model. PNG2, which had the highest nitrogen content of 7%, had the lowest adiabatic flame temperature and smallest bond dissociation energy, so large amounts of CH and OH were generated upstream of the flame. Experiments were conducted with a Bunsen burner to analyze the effect of the fuel composition on a single flame. At the maximum content of 9% for inert components (e.g., nitrogen and carbon dioxide), a high-hydrocarbon content of 6.28% or more was required to keep the flame stable. A fuel interchangeability test was conducted on actual gas stoves; all fuels could be used stably because of the effect of the flame holder and the thermal boundary formed by the clustered flames.

Automated summary

The compatibility of imported fuels from Russia to household gas appliances was evaluated in this study. It was found that fuels with higher nitrogen content required higher hydrocarbon content to maintain flame stability. However, actual tests showed that all fuels could be used stably due to the effect of the flame holder and the thermal boundary formed by clustered flames.