Waste Pressure Energy Recovery System: Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) Report: General Technology

Giardinella, Sebastiano; Gopalakrishnan, Varun

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/128890 Copy

Description

Title

Waste Pressure Energy Recovery System: Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) Report: General Technology

Author(s)

• Giardinella, Sebastiano
• Gopalakrishnan, Varun

Contributor(s)

• EWX Field Services LLC
• Pressure Core LLC

Issue Date

2025-07-03

Keyword(s)

• Life cycle analysis
• Waste pressure energy recovery system
• Expander generator
• Gas transmission and distribution

Date of Ingest

2025-07-08T10:15:38-05:00

Abstract

This report analyzed the life cycle environmental impacts, primarily the life cycle GHG emissions of a waste pressure energy recovery system intended for installation at pressure reduction stations within gas transmission and distribution networks or processes where gas pressure is reduced, to generate electricity to displace energy consumed from the grid. The results of this study will be utilized to satisfy the requirements of Title 26, Chapter I, Subchapter A, Part 1 § 1.45Y-5 of the Code of Federal Regulations on "Greenhouse gas emissions rates for qualified facilities under section 45Y" of the Internal Revenue Code.

The waste pressure energy recovery system is composed of an expander generator that generates electricity from the enthalpy change of a stream of compressible fluid (gas) as it reduces its pressure from the expander’s inlet to its discharge. Three possible configurations, alone or in combination with an external heat source, were considered:

Case 1: in its basic configuration, where the expander is not combined with an external heat source (heat exchanger or heater), the technology can be considered a non-Combustion & Gasification (non-C&G) technology, since it does not combust, convert or oxidize the gas running through the expander.

Case 2: when combined with a waste heat source to increase the enthalpy of the gas (e.g., by transferring heat from a hot fluid whose energy is currently wasted to the gas via a heat exchanger), the combined system can also be considered a non-C&G technology since no additional fuel is used to supply heat for the process.

Case 3: when combined with a heater that utilizes a fuel to increase the enthalpy of the gas (e.g., a natural gas-fired heater or other types of heaters), the combined system can be considered to be a Combustion & Gasification (C&G) technology, since combustion of a fuel is involved in the process.

As a result of this study, for Cases 1 and 2 it was found that the proposed waste pressure energy recovery system can be considered as a net-negative carbon emissions technology resulting from the avoidance of electricity produced from the grid at the grid emission factor.

For Case 3, it was found that the proposed waste pressure energy recovery system can be considered as a net-zero or net-negative carbon emissions technology provided that fuel combusted in the heater does not exceed threshold values that are dependent on the fuel emissions intensity during production, transportation and combustion, and the grid emission factor of the electricity source the technology is displacing.

Publisher

Champaign, IL : Illinois Sustainable Technology Center

Series/Report Name or Number

Report number CN-00090829-02

Type of Resource

text

Genre of Resource

technical report

Language

eng

Sponsor(s)/Grant Number(s)

EWX Field Services LLC / Pressure Core LLC

Owning Collections