Pre-Commercial Development and Field Testing of a Portable Mercaptan Sensing Device for Gas Industry Applications

Overview

Main Objective

The proposed project goal is to develop and validate portable technology that measures the concentration of mercaptans in gas industry field applications. The objectives of the proposed work are to complete development and redesign of a mercaptan sensor using GC/DMS technology and a NON-radioactive ionizer. Further, the project would complete additional field testing of several of the redesigned systems with the non-radioctive ionizer to demonstrate commercial readiness.

Public Abstract

Mercaptans are an essential chemical additive to natural gas that allow humans to smell natural gas ensuring safe distribution and use of the fuel. The human nose can detect mercaptans at concentrations as low as single parts per billion. Currently, there is no accurate, portable mercaptans instrument that would allow LDCs to measures concentration of mercaptan at levels comparable to those detected by a person with a normal sense of smell. This proposal outlines the pre-commercial development of a mobile mercaptan sensing device that can detect and quantify mercaptan concentrations in the single parts per billion range. Furthermore, reacting to specific field needs, the sensing device will be developed with a non-radioactive ionizer and then extensively tested by several NYSEARCH members in their customer territories. Building from previous R & D work, the proposed project outlines tasks to achieve a marketable product. The work will be conducted by a team consisting of NYSEARCH, the research and development organization within the Northeast Gas Association (NGA), and University of California Davis, of Davis, California, the developer of the mercaptan sensor.

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