LBNL-6990E ERNEST ORLANDO LAWRENCE BERKELEY NATIONAL LABORATORY Opportunities for Efficiency Improvements in the U.S. Natural Gas Transmission, Storage and Distribution System Jeffery B. Greenblatt Energy Technologies Area May 2015 This work was supported by the Office of Energy Policy and Systems Analysis (EPSA) of the U.S. Department of Energy under Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Contract No. DE-AC02-05CH11231 DISCLAIMER This document was prepared as an account of work sponsored by the United States Government. While this document is believed to contain correct information, neither the United States Government nor any agency thereof, nor The Regents of the University of California, nor any of their employees, makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by its trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise, does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government or any agency thereof, or The Regents of the University of California. The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government or any agency thereof, or The Regents of the University of California. Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory is an equal opportunity employer. ii Opportunities for Efficiency Improvements in the U.S. Natural Gas Transmission, Storage and Distribution System Jeffery B. Greenblatt Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Executive Summary This report provides an in-depth review of the U.S. natural gas transmission, storage and distribution system, from gas gathering at wellheads to final delivery to consumers, with a focus on energy efficiency opportunities. Drawing upon several resources published by the U.S. government and the natural gas industry, as well as a number of research papers and company publications, this report provides an overview of system components, historical and potential future trends, technical efficiency opportunities, cost estimates, and a final synthesis. While not comprehensive, a number of general conclusions can be drawn from the available information. There are a number of technical efficiency opportunities located throughout the natural gas infrastructure system that have yet to be fully realized. This includes improvements in compressors, prime movers (gas engines/turbines and electric motors), and capacity/operational choices; pipeline sizing, layout, cleaning, and interior coatings; and opportunities for waste heat recovery. While the natural gas gathering, processing, and transmission infrastructure being built as part of efforts to expand natural gas system capacity will generally be more efficient than existing natural gas infrastructure currently in place, there are opportunities to improve the efficiency of existing equipment (e.g. pipelines and compressor systems) through replacement and/or upgrades. iii Table of Contents Executive Summary............................................................................................................................................. iii Abbreviations ........................................................................................................................................................ vi 1. Overview .......................................................................................................................................................... 1 A. High-level description ........................................................................................................................... 1 B. Description of system components .................................................................................................. 2 i. Pipelines ................................................................................................................................................... 2 a. Transmission and Gathering ...................................................................................................... 2 b. Distribution ....................................................................................................................................... 5 ii. Compressor systems .......................................................................................................................... 6 a. Compressors ..................................................................................................................................... 6 b. Prime movers ................................................................................................................................ 11 c. Pairing of prime movers with compressors ...................................................................... 14 d. Preferred technologies by application ................................................................................ 14 e. Apportionment of compression systems ........................................................................... 15 iii. Storage and LNG .............................................................................................................................. 16 C. Historical and potential future trends .......................................................................................... 19 i. Natural gas supply and demand .................................................................................................. 19 ii. Compressor systems ....................................................................................................................... 21 iii. Pipelines ............................................................................................................................................. 22 a. Gathering systems ....................................................................................................................... 22 b. Transmission pipelines ............................................................................................................. 23 c. Distribution systems................................................................................................................... 25 iv. Storage and processing facilities ............................................................................................... 26 2. Technical efficiency opportunities ...................................................................................................... 26 A. Compressor systems ........................................................................................................................... 26 i. Compressors ........................................................................................................................................ 27 ii. Prime movers .................................................................................................................................... 30 iii. Combined systems.......................................................................................................................... 32 iv. Waste heat recovery ...................................................................................................................... 32 B. Pipelines ................................................................................................................................................... 33 i. Pipe diameter and gas pressure .................................................................................................. 33 ii. Pipe inspection and cleanliness .................................................................................................. 34 iii. Internal surface coatings ............................................................................................................. 34 C. Cost estimates ........................................................................................................................................ 35 i. Compressor systems ........................................................................................................................ 35 ii. Waste heat recovery ....................................................................................................................... 38 iii. Pipelines ............................................................................................................................................. 39 iv. Cleaning (pigging) ........................................................................................................................... 42 v. Internal coatings ............................................................................................................................... 42 vi. Storage, processing and LNG ...................................................................................................... 43 D. System-level trade-offs ...................................................................................................................... 43 3. Synthesis ....................................................................................................................................................... 46 Acknowledgments ............................................................................................................................................. 50 References ...........................................................................................................................................................