1. A method of generating hydrogen-enriched fuel gas and carbon dioxide comprising:
(a) converting hydrocarbon molecules from a gaseous hydrocarbon feed stream into hydrogen and carbon dioxide;
(b) separating the hydrogen and carbon dioxide;
(c) blending the hydrogen back into the gaseous hydrocarbon feed stream to generate a hydrogen-enriched fuel gas;
(d) utilizing the carbon dioxide for storage or sequestration;
wherein the carbon dioxide is separated from the hydrogen using a carbon dioxide solvent, and
wherein the carbon dioxide solvent is normal butane or is a mixture of normal-butane and iso-butane.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein as a result of the separation step, each standard cubic foot of the gaseous hydrocarbon feed stream produces between two and four standard cubic feet of a hydrogen product stream and between 0.7 and 0.9 standard cubic feet of a carbon dioxide product stream.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the hydrogen-enriched fuel gas has a hydrogen concentration ranging from five to 30 mole percent.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the hydrogen-enriched fuel gas produces less carbon dioxide per energy unit output when combusted than non-hydrogen-enriched natural gas.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein approximately one to eleven percent of the gaseous hydrocarbon feed stream is processed.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein the gaseous hydrocarbon feed stream has a total volume;
wherein the total volume of the gaseous hydrocarbon feed stream ranges from 100 million standard cubic feet per day to 4500 million standard cubic feet per day; and
wherein between 10 million standard cubic feet per day and 500 million standard cubic feet per day of the gaseous hydrocarbon feed stream is processed.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein there is an existing natural gas pipeline transportation and distribution system, and
wherein the hydrogen-enriched fuel gas is transported and distributed using the existing natural gas pipeline system.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein the sequestration is enhanced oil recovery.
9. The method of claim 1, wherein a carbon dioxide recovery solvent is used to separate the carbon dioxide from the hydrogen; and
wherein the carbon dioxide recovery solvent allows the carbon dioxide to be separated from the hydrogen at a pressure of between 200 and 500 psig.
10. The method of claim 9, wherein total carbon dioxide compression requirements for the storage or sequestration are reduced by 50 to 75 percent as compared to chemical or physical solvent-based carbon dioxide recovery processes that do not utilize the carbon dioxide recovery solvent of the present invention.
11. The method of claim 1, wherein the conversion, separation and blending steps occur on a natural gas transportation and distribution pipeline and not at a point of combustion.
12. The method of claim 1, wherein the conversion, separation and blending steps are all performed prior to combustion of the hydrogen-enriched fuel gas.
13. The method of claim 1, wherein there is an existing natural gas pipeline transportation and distribution system,
wherein there are a number of existing compressed natural gas fueling facilities; and
wherein the conversion, separation and blending steps do not require any changes to the existing natural gas pipeline transportation and distribution system other than providing mobile points of consumption with an ability to consume the hydrogen-enriched fuel gas and increasing the number of compressed natural gas fueling facilities to supply the mobile points of consumption with the hydrogen-enriched fuel gas.
14. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
(e) utilizing a portion of the separated hydrogen as a separate fuel product.
15. The method of claim 1, wherein the gaseous hydrocarbon feed stream is pipeline quality natural gas.
16. A system for generating hydrogen-enriched fuel gas and carbon dioxide comprising:
(a) means for converting hydrocarbon molecules from a gaseous hydrocarbon feed stream into hydrogen and carbon dioxide;
(b) means for separating the hydrogen and carbon dioxide;
(c) means for blending the hydrogen back into the gaseous hydrocarbon feed stream to generate a hydrogen-enriched fuel gas; and
(d) means for utilizing the carbon dioxide for storage or sequestration;
wherein the carbon dioxide is separated from the hydrogen using a carbon dioxide solvent, and
wherein the carbon dioxide solvent is normal butane or is a mixture of normal-butane and iso-butane.
17. A method of generating hydrogen and carbon dioxide comprising:
(a) converting hydrocarbon molecules from a gaseous hydrocarbon feed stream into hydrogen and carbon dioxide;
(b) separating the hydrogen and carbon dioxide;
(c) utilizing the hydrogen as a separate product; and
(d) utilizing the carbon dioxide for storage or sequestration;
wherein the carbon dioxide is separated from the hydrogen using a carbon dioxide recovery solvent; and
wherein the carbon dioxide solvent is normal butane or is a mixture of normal-butane and iso-butane.
18. The method of claim 17, wherein a carbon dioxide recovery solvent is used to separate the carbon dioxide from the hydrogen; and
wherein the carbon dioxide recovery solvent allows the carbon dioxide to be separated from the hydrogen at a pressure of between 200 and 500 psig.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A circuit for measurement of a phase noise of an oscillator, the circuit comprising:
a first circuit configured to generate a second signal from a first signal, wherein the first signal is generated by the oscillator at a frequency (\u03c9c) and includes a phase noise (\u03c6n(t)) of the oscillator, and wherein an instantaneous amplitude of the second signal is proportional to a summation of the frequency (\u03c9c) of the first signal and a time derivative of the phase noise of the first signal (d\u03c6n(t)dt); and
a second circuit configured to integrate the second signal to generate a third signal, the third signal being a measure of the phase noise of the oscillator.
2. The circuit of claim 1, wherein the first circuit is configured to utilize the first signal to generate at least one of a current signal or a voltage signal based on the oscillation frequency of the first signal.
3. The circuit of claim 1, wherein the first circuit is a frequency-to-current converter circuit that is configured to utilize the first signal to generate a current signal based on the frequency of the first signal.
4. The circuit of claim 1, wherein the first circuit is a frequency-to-voltage converter circuit that is configured to utilize the first signal to generate a voltage signal based on the frequency of the first signal.
5. The circuit of claim 1, wherein the second circuit is configured to integrate the second signal and to eliminate an effect of the noiseless oscillation frequency on the third signal.
6. The circuit of claim 1, wherein the second circuit comprises an integrator circuit configured to integrate the second signal and to substantially attenuate near-zero frequency signals.
7. The circuit of claim 1, wherein the first circuit comprises a switched-capacitor circuit configured to utilize the first signal to generate at least one of a current signal or a voltage signal based on the oscillation frequency of the first signal.
8. The circuit of claim 7, wherein the switches of the switched-capacitor circuit are controlled by the first signal and an inverted version of the first signal.
9. The circuit of claim 1, wherein the first signal comprises a time varying voltage signal derived from an output signal of the oscillator.
10. A method for measurement of a phase noise of an oscillator, the method comprising:
deriving a first signal from the oscillator, wherein the first signal is generated by the oscillator at a frequency (\u03c9c) and includes a phase noise \u03c6n(t)) of the oscillator; an instantaneous of the oscillator;
generating a second signal from the first signal, wherein an instantaneous amplitude of the second signal is proportional to a summation of the frequency (\u03c9c) of the first signal and a time derivative of the phase noise of the first signal (d\u03c6n(t)dt); and
integrating the second signal to generate a third signal, the third signal being a measure of the phase noise of the oscillator.
11. The method of claim 10, wherein the generating of the second signal from the first signal comprises generating at least one of a current signal or a voltage signal based on the oscillation frequency of the first signal.
12. The method of claim 10, wherein the generating of the second signal from the first signal comprises using a frequency-to-current converter circuit and utilizing the first signal to a generate a current signal based on the frequency of the first signal.
13. The method of claim 10, wherein the generating of the second signal from the first signal comprises using a frequency-to-voltage converter circuit and utilizing the first signal to generate a voltage signal based on the frequency of the first signal.
14. The method of claim 10, wherein the integrating of the second signal comprises eliminating an effect of the noiseless oscillation frequency on the third signal.
15. The method of claim 10, wherein the integrating of the second signal comprises using an integrator that substantially attenuates near-zero frequency signals.
16. The method of claim 10, wherein generating the second signal from the first signal comprises using a switched-capacitor circuit and utilizing the first signal to generate at least one of a current signal or a voltage signal based on the frequency of the first signal.
17. The method of claim 10, wherein the deriving of the first signal from the oscillator comprises deriving a time varying voltage signal from an output signal of the oscillator.
18. The method of claim 10, wherein generating the second signal comprises using a switched-capacitor circuit and configuring the switched-capacitor circuit to utilize the first signal to generate at least one of a current signal or a voltage signal or a current signal based on the oscillation frequency of the first signal.
19. A non-transitory machine-readable medium embodying instructions that, when executed by a machine, allow the machine to perform a method for measurement of a phase noise of an oscillator, the method comprising:
deriving a first signal from the oscillator, wherein the first signal is generated by the oscillator at a frequency ((\u03c9c) and includes a phase noise (\u03c6n(t)) of the oscillator;
generating a second signal from the first signal, wherein an instantaneous amplitude of the second signal is proportional to a summation of the frequency (\u03c9c) of the first signal and a time derivative of the phase noise of the first signal (d\u03c6n(t)dt); and
integrating the second signal to generate a third signal, the third signal being a measure of the phase noise of the oscillator.
20. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 19, wherein:
a) the generating of the second signal from the first signal comprises generating at least one of a current signal or a voltage signal based on the frequency of the first signal, b) the generating of the second signal from the first signal comprises using a frequency-to-current converter circuit and utilizing the first signal to a generate a current signal based on the frequency of the first signal, and c) the integrating of the second signal comprises using an integrator that substantially attenuates near-zero frequency signals.