الفهرس 
IntroductionOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Natural gas is transported at high pressure across large distances. The pressure of the natural gas must be reduced before it is delivered to the consumer. Once the gas reaches population centers for distribution to residential, commercial, and industrial customers, pipeline pressure is greatly reduced at local utility letdown stations located throughout the gas distribution network. Natural gas pressure reduction is typically achieved using pressure reduction throttling valves. In a limited number of cases pressure reduction is achieved using a turboexpander. This method has the added bonus of power generation. Preheating is required in many cases to avoid undesirable effects of a low outlet temperature. This preheating is typically done using gas fired boilers. As pressure is reduced, the gas naturally cools as it expands and is conventionally heated by gas-fired boilers to prevent the gas systems and pipeline from freezing. Consequently, the customary manner in which gas utilities manage the letdown process is both inefficient and with incremental air contaminants: The energy available in the process is unused and essentially lost, while the boilers used to heat the gas produce CO2 and other emissions. In this system a Molten Carbonate Fuel Cell (MCFC) running on natural gas is used in conjunction with the turbine to preheat the gas and provide additional low emission electrical power. Various system configurations were simulated and factors affecting the overall performance of the systems were investigated. The simulation was performed using input data from 6 consumers, pressure reduction stations. This study investigates the performance of a hybrid turboexpander and fuel cell (HTEFC) system for power recovery at natural gas pressure reduction stations. Simulations were created to predict the performance of various system configurations. This thesis illustrates the benefits of using this type of analysis in a feasibility study of future HTEFC systems for power recovery at natural gas pressure reduction stations in Egypt.