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flow ratę, and temperaturę were found to be important factors on the performance of the system. Data from Utilities Kingston was used to perform a simulation of a proposed natural gas expansion station in the city. The results of this simulation include electric power produced and heating requirements over the course of a year.

1.2 Research Objectives

The main objective of this research is to investigate the factors affecting overall performance of hybrid turboexpander and fuel celi systems for power recovery and natural gas pressure reduction. In particular, this study focuses on investigating power outputs, fuel requirements and efficiencies of systems under typical gas flow variations. An important objective of this research is to study the sizing criteria to maximize power output and revenue for this type of system.

For the purposes of this study, gas flow data from Utilities Kingston was chosen to represent a highly fluctuating and seasonally dependent gas flow situation. Using this data, performance characteristics of various systems were simulated. This resulted in a better understanding of the sizing issues of system components.

1.3 Thesis Outline

The topics covered in the various chapters of this thesis are:

•    Chapter 1 introduces the technology being considered and the materiał covered in this study.

•    Chapter 2 includes a review of previous work on the individual components of the system

investigated in this study. The fundamentals of each component in the system are discussed

as well as previous modeling methods. An overview of natural gas transportation and

distribution is discussed including the role of high pressure operation at different sites in the

transportation network. Examples of conventional turboexpander systems for natural gas 3