Way before you bring that propane tank home and get those
burgers grilling, NIST has helped smooth the path between
the geologic source of the gas and you. |
When
you open the valve on the propane tank of your backyard
grill, you hopefully are entirely unaware of the costly
disputes over pricing that have been endemic between
producers and buyers of natural gas products such as
propane. These products, which include ethane--a major
feed stock for the polymer industry--are sold according
to volume. Trouble is that on hot days the density of
propane is less than on cold days, which means a warm
gallon of propane has slightly fewer molecules of the
fuel than a cold gallon of propane. When you are involved
in deals involving vast volumes and millions of dollars,
little differences quickly multiply into something you
care very much about. At the request of the Gas
Processors Association (GPA), and industry group,
researchers in the National
Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Chemical Science and
Technology Laboratory developed a series of
mathematical models and correction tables that enable
buyers and sellers of liquid natural gas products to
confidently calculate volumes of product at different
temperatures with much less uncertainty than in the past.
According to Dale Embry, a senior engineering specialist
with Philips Petroleum Company and a GPA liaison to NIST,
this lower uncertainty translates into annual savings of
millions of dollars due to reduced discrepancies. |
