02257nam a2200193 4500 20260520010147.0 260224s xxu NEW THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY MICROSENSOR TO MEASURE THE METHANE NUMBER OF NATURAL GAS 02/09/2025 ; 2009-09-30 12 p. Consulte por la disponibilidad de este documento As a result of the liberalization of the gas market, more important and frequent fluctuations of the natural gas composition are expected. Owing to this fact, the on-site control of the gas properties will become necessary for end-users. Methane Number is the parameter used to quantify knocking tendency of a gas, parameter especially relevant when natural gas is used as engines fuel. The present paper describes a measurement method to determine the Methane Number of natural gas as well as the microdevices developed to carry out these measurements. The method is based on the measurement of the gas Thermal Conductivity and the existing correlation between this parameter and the Methane Number of natural gas. The developed microsensors are ascribed to Microsystems Technology. They integrate two platinum thermoresistors: a reference one to measure the gas temperature and a sensing one to measure its thermal conductivity. In order to reduce thermal losses to the silicon substrate two different approaches are proposed: a) microbridges to locate the thermoresistors and b) oxidized porous-silicon isolation. In the range of natural gas compositions considered (60-100MN), applying a 50mA constant current to the sensing thermoresistor, obtained sensitivity is 0.95mV/1MN. Thermal stability and mechanical behaviour of both approaches are compared. Furthermore, the microdevices are mounted in a gas line in order to test them in field. Additional tests are still required but it can be concluded that the developed microsensors are a valid alternative to measure in situ the Methane Number of natural gas. CONGTP Gutierrez, A. M. 22208 International Gas Union, IGU 13105 World Gas Conference (23rd. : 2006 jun 5-9 : Amsterdam, The Netherlands) 39854 170517 170517 0 0 0 0 238336 BAAB BAAB 2026-03-05 200045357 0 200045357 2026-03-05 15:12:43 2026-03-05 CONGTP