Electromagnetic induction

Electromagnetic or Magnetic induction is the production of an electromotive force or voltage across an electrical conductordue to its dynamic interaction with a magnetic field.

Michael Faraday is generally credited with the discovery of induction in 1831, and mathematically described it as Faraday's law of induction. Lenz's law describes the direction of the induced field. Faraday's law was later generalized to the Maxwell-Faraday equation, which is one of the equations in James Clerk Maxwell's theory of electromagnetism.

Electromagnetic induction has found many applications in technology, including electrical components such as inductors and transformers, and devices such as electric motors and generators.Electromagnetic induction was first discovered by Michael Faraday, who made his discovery public in 1831.It was discovered independently by Joseph Henry in 1832.

Electricity generation

Electricity generation is the process of generating electric power from other sources of primary energy. For electric utilities, it is the first process in the delivery of electricity to consumers. The other processes, electricity transmission, distribution, and electrical power storage and recovery using pumped-storage methods are normally carried out by the electric power industry. Electricity is most often generated at a power station by electromechanical generators, primarily driven by heat engines fuelled by combustion or nuclear fission but also by other means such as the kinetic energy of flowing water and wind. Other

Natural gas-fired electricity generation expected to reach record level in 2016

Natural gas-fired electricity generation in the United States is expected to reach a record level this year, providing an average of 3.8 million megawatthours per day in 2016, or 4% higher than in 2015. Based on EIA's latest Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), monthly natural gas-fired generation is expected to reach record highs in July and August, when weather-related demand for air conditioning increases electricity demand. 

Natural Gas and Technology

Over the past few decades the oil and natural gas industry has transformed into one of the most technologically advanced industries in the United States. New innovations have reshaped the industry into a technology leader. This section will discuss the role of technology in the evolution of the natural gas industry, focusing on technologies in the exploration and production sector, as well as a few select innovations that have had a profound effect on the potential for natural gas. Beginning in the 1990s, more power generators began to use natural gas to make electricity, causing demand for natural gas to grow substantially.  The natural gas industry has been able to keep pace with growing demand and produce greater amounts of natural gas through technological innovation. 

Natural Gas and the Environment

Natural gas is an extremely important source of energy for reducing pollution and maintaining a clean and healthy environment. In addition to being a domestically abundant and secure source of energy, the use of natural gas also offers a number of environmental benefits over other sources of energy, particularly other fossil fuels. This section will discuss the environmental effects of natural gas in terms of emissions, as well as the environmental impact of the natural gas industry itself. Scroll down, or click on the links below to be transported ahead.

Emissions from the Combustion of Natural Gas

Natural gas is the cleanest of all the fossil fuels, as evidenced in the Environmental Protection Agency’s data comparisons in the chart below, which is still current as of 2010. Composed primarily of methane, the main products of the combustion of natural gas are carbon dioxide and water vapor, the same compounds we exhale when we breathe. Coal and oil are composed of much more complex molecules, with a higher carbon ratio and

Natural Gas Production

Once a well has been drilled and the presence of commercially viable quantities of fossil fuel has been verified, the next step is actually lifting the natural gas out of the ground and processing it for transportation.

Natural gas, as it exists underground, is not exactly the same as the natural gas that comes through the pipelines to our homes and businesses. Natural gas, as we use it, is almost entirely methane. However, when we find natural gas underground, it comes associated with a variety of other trace compounds and gases, as well as oil and water, which must be removed. Natural gas transported through pipelines must meet purity specifications to be allowed in, so most natural gas processing occurs near the well.

Natural Gas Extraction

Once a potential natural gas deposit has been located by a team of exploration geologists and geophysicists, it is up to a team of drilling experts to dig down to where the natural gas is thought to exist. This section will describe the process of drilling for natural gas, both onshore and offshore. Although the process of digging deep into the Earth’s crust to find deposits of natural gas that may or may not actually exist seems daunting, the industry has developed a number of innovations and techniques that both decrease the cost and increase the efficiency of drilling for natural gas. Advancements in technology have contributed greatly to the increased efficiency and success rate for drilling natural gas wells.Determining whether to drill a well depends on a variety of factors, including the economic potential of the hoped-for natural gas reservoir. It

Natural Gas Exploration

The practice of locating natural gas and petroleum deposits has been transformed dramatically in the last 20 years with the advent of extremely advanced, ingenious technology. In the early days of the industry, the only way of locating underground petroleum and natural gas deposits was to search for surface evidence of these underground formations. Those searching for natural gas deposits were forced to scour the earth, looking for seepages of oil or gas emitted from underground before they had any clue that there were deposits underneath. However, because such a low proportion of petroleum and natural gas deposits actually seep to the surface, this made for a very inefficient and difficult exploration process. As the demand for fossil fuel energy has increased dramatically over

Gas Natural Uses

For hundreds of years, natural gas has been known as a very useful substance. The Chinese discovered a very long time ago that the energy in natural gas could be harnessed, and used to heat water. In the early days of the natural gas industry, the gas was mainly used to light streetlamps, and the occasional house. However, with much improved distribution channels and technological advancements, natural gas is being used in ways never thought possible.

Resources Natural Gas

There is an abundance of natural gas in North America, but it is a non-renewable resource, the formation of which takes thousands and possibly millions of years. Therefore, understanding the availability of our supply of natural gas is important as we increase our use of this fossil fuel.

This section will provide a framework for understanding just how much natural gas there is in the ground available for our use, as well as links to the most recent statistics concerning the available supply of natural gas.

As natural gas is essentially irreplaceable (at least with current technology), it is important to have an idea of how much natural gas is left in the ground for us to use. However, this becomes complicated by the fact that no one really knows exactly how much natural gas

Natural Gas History

Natural gas is nothing new. In fact, most of the natural gas that is brought out from under the ground is millions and millions of years old. However, it was not until recently that methods for obtaining this gas, bringing it to the surface, and putting it to use were developed.

Before there was an understanding of what natural gas was, it posed a mystery to man. Sometimes, lightning strikes would ignite natural gas that was escaping from under the earth’s crust. This would create a fire coming from the earth, burning the natural gas as it seeped out from underground. These fires puzzled most early civilizations, and were the root of myth and superstition. One of the most famous of these flames was found in ancient

Natural Gas Under the Earth

Although there are several ways that methane, and thus natural gas, may be formed, it is usually found underneath the surface of the earth. As natural gas has a low density, once formed it will rise toward the surface of the earth through loose, shale type rock and other material. Some of this methane will simply rise to the surface and dissipate into the air. However, a great deal of this methane will rise up into geological formations that ‘trap’ the gas under the ground. These formations are made up of layers of porous, sedimentary rock (kind of like a sponge that soaks up and contains the gas), with a denser, impermeable layer of rock on top.

This impermeable rock traps the natural gas under the ground. If these formations are large enough, they can trap a great deal of natural gas underground, in what is known as a reservoir. There are a number of different types of these formations, but the most common is created when the impermeable sedimentary rock forms a ‘dome’ shape, like an umbrella

Natural Gas

Natural gas is a vital component of the world’s supply of energy. It is one of the cleanest, safest, and most useful of all energy sources. Despite its importance, however, there are many misconceptions about natural gas. For instance, the word ‘gas’ itself has a variety of different uses, and meanings. When we fuel our car, we put ‘gas’ in it. However, the gasoline that goes into your vehicle, while a fossil fuel itself, is very different from natural gas. The ‘gas’ in the common barbecue is actually propane, which, while closely associated and commonly found in natural gas, is not really natural gas itself. While commonly grouped in with other fossil fuels and sources of energy, there are many characteristics of natural gas that make it unique. Below is a bit of background information about natural gas, what it is exactly, how it is formed, and where it is found in nature.Natural gas, in itself, might be considered an uninteresting gas – it is colorless, shapeless, and odorless in its pure form.

Natural Gas-Fired Reciprocating Engines

Natural-gas fired reciprocating engines are also used for on-site electric generation. These types of engines are also commonly known as combustion engines. They convert the energy contained in fossil fuels into mechanical energy, which rotates a piston to generate electricity. Natural-gas fired reciprocating engines typically generate from less than 5 kW, up to 7 megawatts (MW), meaning they can be used as a small scale residential backup

Microturbines

Microturbines are scaled down versions of industrial gas turbines. As their name suggests, these generating units are very small, and typically have a relatively small electric output. These types of distributed generation systems have the capacity to produce from 25 to 500 kilowatts (kW) of electricity, and are best suited for residential or small scale commercial units.

Advantages to microturbines include a very compact size (about the same size as a refrigerator), a small number of moving parts, light-weight, low-cost, and increased efficiency. Using new waste heat recovery techniques, microturbines can achieve energy efficiencies of up to 80 percent.

Industrial Natural Gas Fired Turbines 2016

Industrial natural gas-fired turbines operate on the same concept as the larger centralized gas turbine generators discussed above. However, instead of being located in a centralized plant, these turbines are located in close proximity to where the electricity being generated will be used. Industrial turbines – producing electricity through the use of high temperature, high pressure gas to turn a turbine that generates a current – are compact, lightweight,

Distributed Generation 2016

Until recently, methods of generating power have been discussed in the context of large, centralized power plants. However, with technological advancements, there is a trend towards what is known as ‘distributed generation’. Distributed generation refers to the placement of individual, smaller sized electric generation units at residential, commercial, and industrial sites of use. These small scale power plants, which are primarily powered by natural gas, operate with small gas turbine or combustion engine units, or natural gas fuel cells.

Distributed generation can take many forms, from small, low output generators used to back up the

Electrical Uses 2016

Natural gas, because of its clean burning nature, has become a very popular fuel for the generation of electricity. In the 1970s and 1980s, the choices for most electric utility generators were large coal or nuclear powered plants.  However, due to economic, environmental and technological changes, natural gas has become the fuel of choice for new power plants built since the 1990s. In fact, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimates that between 2009-2015, 96.65 gigawatts (GW) of new electricity capacity will be added in the U.S. Of this, over 20 percent, or 21.2 GW, will be natural gas additions. The graph below shows how, according to the EIA, natural gas-fired electricity generation is expected to account for 80 percent of all added electricity generation capacity by 2035.