Please note, the original article here was only the table (an earlier version with fewer columns and no footnotes) was written Monday, March 31, 2014. This article was substantially updated 9-18-2014.
Executive Summary: (sit down first).
- The storage facility at Cove Point MD will hold the energy equivalent of 228 Hiroshima bombs.
- The Constitution Pipeline will transport the equivalent of 10-21 Hiroshima Bombs/day
- (assuming my calculations are correct-- please check me out friends)
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| Imagine 228 Hiroshima Bombs |
Detail:
I'm a math geek at heart.
I like playing with numbers and looking for patterns.
Warning: I am an Uncredentialed Hack Blogger.
So you should please verify these numbers for yourself.
I believe they are correct.
(I am not perfect and will revise if you find errors... leave a comment)
The table below shows how the various units for natural gas volumes convert.
First thing I noticed odd is that between a BTU and a TCF, there are 15 orders of magnitude!!
This is quite remarkable in terms of scale, considering there are only 44 orders of magnitude total, from the smallest known thing to the largest.
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| The known universe from smallest thing to largest spans ~44 orders of magnitude See: http://williamahuston.blogspot.com/2013/06/orders-of-magnitude.html |
NOTE: this table is very wide and does not render correctly on many devices.
I am working on a PDF which will be better. Check back soon.
| orders of magnitude |
TCF | BCF | MMCF, MDth |
MMBtu, Dth (Dekatherm), MCF | Therm | Cubic Ft. | BTU | joules |
Kilotons TNT | Megatons TNT |
| 13 | 1 | 1,000 | 1,000,000 | 1,000,000,000 | 10,000,000,000 | 1,000,000,000,000 | 1.055 E18 | 250,000 | 250 | |
| 12 | 0.1 | 100(3) | 100,000 | 100,000,000 | 1,000,000,000 | 100,000,000,000 | 25,000 | 25 | ||
| 11 | 0.01 | 10(1) | 10,000 | 10,000,000 | 100,000,000 | 10,000,000,000 | 2,500 | 2.5 | ||
| 10 | 0.001 | 1 (2) | 1,000 | 1,000,000 | 10,000,000 | 1,000,000,000 | 1.055 E15 | 250 | 0.25 | |
| 9 | 0.0001 | 0.1 | 100 | 100,000 | 1,000,000 | 100,000,000 | 25(3) | 0.025 | ||
| 8 | 0.00001 | 0.01 | 10 | 10,000 | 100,000 | 10,000,000 | 2.5 | 0.0025 | ||
| 7 | 0.000001 | 0.001 | 1 | 1,000 | 10,000 | 1,000,000 | 1.055 E12 | 0.25 | ||
| 6 | 0.0000001 | 0.0001 | 0.1 | 100 | 1,000 | 100,000 | ||||
| 5 | 0.00000001 | 0.00001 | 0.01 | 10 | 100 | 10,000 | ||||
| 4 | 0.000000001 | 0.000001 | 0.001 | 1 | 10 | 1,000 | 1,000,000 | 1.055 E9 |
||
| 3 | 0.0000000001 | 0.0000001 | 0.0001 | 0.1 | 1 | 100 | 100,000 | |||
| 2 | 0.00000000001 | 0.00000001 | 0.00001 | 0.00 | 0.1 | 10 | 10,000 | |||
| 1 | 0.000000000001 | 0.000000001 | 0.000001 | 0.001 | 0.01 | 1 | 1,000 | 1.055 E6 |
Next thing I did was to convert to standard units of energy, kilojoules and megajoules.
Next I added footnotes for certain known pipelines and storage facilities, to get a sense of scale.
Constitution Pipeline is a 30" pipeline, with an MAOP of between 1,400-1,480 psig
and a capacity of between 650 MMCf/d and 1.34 Bcf/d.
FOOTNOTES:
(1) Cove Point as designed will store 14.6 billion cubic feet of LNG
(2) Constitution Pipeline is designed to carry 0.65 Bcf/d to 1.34 Bcf/d
(3) 16 kilotons (Little Boy @ Hiroshima), 21 kilotons (Fat Man, Nagasaki)
Conversion factors:
1 megaton tnt = 4.18400 × 1015
joules
100 MMCF = 1.5625 Hiroshima bombs.Constitution Pipeline is 10-21 Hiroshima Bombs/day:
650 MMCF = 10 Hiroshima bombs = 10 * 16 kt = 160 kt.
1.34 Bcf = 21 Hiroshima bombs = 21 * 16 kt = 336 kt.
Cove Point MD LNG storage would be 228 Hiroshima Bombs:
14.6 Bcf = 228 Hiroshima bombs = 228 * 16 kt = 3,648 kt.
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| According to NukeMap, a catastrophic explosion of a bomb with this much energy could result in 8,000 deaths. |
A 100 car freight train can transport 10 kilotons (e.g., of coal).
So 3,648 kilotons is like a freight train loaded with TNT 365 miles long.
A blast this size at that location could result in 8,000+ deaths. Cove Point is ~50 miles from our nation's Capitol, Washington DC.
Have a nice day! Fixed an error in the table 9-19-2014 / wah
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