How Is Natural Gas Used to Create Electricity?
The use of natural gas for electricity production increased sharply in the 1990s as a result of lower natural gas prices. Currently there are two processes being used to produce electricity from natural gas: single cycle gas turbines and combined cycle plants.
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Single Cycle Gas Turbines
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Single cycle gas turbines are essentially huge jet engines designed to run on natural gas instead of aviation fuel. These turbines spin large generators that produce electricity.
Combined Cycle Plants
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Combined cycle plants work exactly like single cycle turbines with an added bonus. In combined cycle plants, the exhaust gases from the single cycle turbine are captured and used to heat steam that is used to drive a secondary turbine connected to another generator. This arrangement increases the amount of electricity created without increasing gas consumption.
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Peaking Plants
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The majority of the electricity produced in the United States is generated in coal-fired electrical plants. Coal plants are cheaper to fuel and maintain but are slow to power up or down as the demand for electricity changes. Gas-fired plants can be started up and shut down very quickly. For this reason gas plants are used as "peaking plants." Peaking plants normally sit idle and are switched on or off as needed to keep the available level of electricity just right to cover the current demand.
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References
- Photo Credit Electric column image by Sergienko from Fotolia.com
