European Commission targets specify that 32% of the European energy consumption should come from renewable sources by 2030. One of the most promising options to reach this target is gas generation from biomass, especially biomethane, for injection into natural gas grid. EN 16723 presents specifications for VOCs, corrosive components and compressor oil in biomethane, impurities monitored because of integrity of gas infrastructure and for health and safety reasons. Currently, it proposes test methods that are neither harmonized nor validated, and usually not dedicated to biomethane. Launched in June 2017, the EMPIR project 16ENG05 Metrology for Biomethane is aimed for specific, robust and standardized analytical methods development, along with novel and improved reference standards. The present paper focusses on the developed methods for the monitoring of amines, terpenes and ammonia involving μGC-TCD, TD-GC-MS and OFCEAS.
The first reference gas mixtures of sulfur-free natural gas odorants that are traceable to the International System of Units (SI) have been produced and their compositions validated. These mixtures, which contain methyl acrylate and ethyl acrylate at amount fractions between 1.1 and 2.1 μmol mol(-1), can be used to underpin measurements of sulfur-free odorants, which are increasingly being used to odorize natural gas in transmission networks as they have less harmful properties than traditional sulfur-containing odorants. The reference gas mixtures produced have been shown to be stable in passivated aluminum cylinders for at least 8 months and have been validated (to within 6% or less) by interlaboratory measurements at three National Measurement Institutes. The stability of methyl acrylate and ethyl acrylate in gas sampling bags has been investigated, and the challenges of analyzing 2-ethyl-3-methylpyrazine, which is used as a stabilizer in sulfur-free odorants, are also briefly discussed.
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