Standard gas volume converter
Convert amounts of gas between normal and standard cubic meters, standard cubic feet and moles, each at its own reference conditions.
That's 100× as much as a 50 L cylinder at 200 bar, while an LNG tanker’s cargo is 100,863× more. As methane that is 715.6 kg, about 11,030 kWh of heat.
What it means
How much gas is that?
Ideal gas law. Real natural gas deviates by under half a percent at these conditions. Some contracts define Sm³ at 20 °C; check yours.
Every unit
That gas in every unit
Learn
Three things worth knowing
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1 Nm³ ≈ 37.3 scf
1 Sm³ ≈ 35.4 scf; a million scf (MMscf) is 26,800 Nm³ or 28,300 Sm³.
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Avogadro’s insight
Amedeo Avogadro proposed in 1811 that equal volumes of gas at the same temperature and pressure hold the same number of molecules, which is why any gas can be counted in cubic meters.
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Nm³ is not m³
Gas at 50 bar in a pipeline takes about 50 times less space than its Nm³ figure. Normal cubic meters count molecules, not the space they fill now.
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Background
About standard conditions
A cubic meter of gas is a different amount depending on how warm and squeezed it is, so gas is counted at reference conditions. A normal cubic meter (Nm³) is at 0 °C and 1 atm, a standard cubic meter (Sm³) at 15 °C, and the US standard cubic foot (scf) at 60 °F and 14.696 psi.
Each is really an amount of substance: 1 Nm³ is 44.6 moles. A warmer reference means fewer molecules per cubic meter, so 1 Nm³ is 1.055 Sm³.