Monday, March 31, 2014

Natural Gas Units Conversion Table + Shocking Facts

Share:  TinyURL.com/CovePoint228Hiroshimas

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)  
Have a nice day!  
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.

The known universe from smallest thing to largest spans ~44 orders of magnitude
See: http://williamahuston.blogspot.com/2013/06/orders-of-magnitude.html
It is extremely uncommon in the study of engineering or physics to encounter the span of 15 orders of magnitude, but here it is. This table will help you convert between the many (and confusing! at least to me) various units of volume.

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.

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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