Thermal Stability and Heat Transfer Characteristics of Methane and Natural Gas Fuels

The thermal decomposition and heat transfer characteristics of gaseous, high-purity methane, several methane–hydrocarbon mixtures, and a typical natural gas fuel were evaluated using an electrically heated, stainless-steel tube test apparatus. Of several candidate heat transfer correlations, the Dittus–Boelter heat transfer correlation provided the best fit of the methane heat transfer data over the range of Reynolds numbers 10,000 to 215,000. The thermal stability (i.e., deposit formation) characteristics of the methane–hydrocarbon mixtures and the natural gas fuel were established and compared with the deposition characteristics of high-purity methane. Testing was conducted at wall temperatures up to 900 K (fuel temperatures to 835 K) for durations of up to 60 hours. Measurements of deposit mass indicated that there was essentially no deposit buildup for wall temperatures below 650 K. Deposit began to form at wall temperatures between 650 K and 775 K. Above 775 K, there was a rapid monotonic increase in deposition. The data suggest that the use of high-purity methane instead of natural gas at temperatures above 775 K could reduce the deposit thickness under similar operating conditions by as much as a factor of three, or permit operation at correspondingly higher temperatures.