GASEOUS FUELS

Gaseous fuels in common use are:

Liquefied petroleum gases
Natural gas
Producer gas
Blast furnace gas
Coke oven gas

LPG
LPG may be defined as those hydrocarbons, which are gaseous at
normal atmospheric pressure, but may be condensed to the liquid
state at normal temperature, by the application of moderate pressures.
LPG includes:

Propane (C3H8)
Propylene (C3H6)
Normal & Iso-Butane (C4H10)
Butylene (C4H8)

Although they are normally used as gases, they are stored and
transported as liquids under pressure for convenience and ease of
handling
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LPG - HAZARDS & PRECAUTIONS

LPG vapor is denser than air, consequently, the vapor may flow
along the ground and into drains sinking to the lowest level of
the surroundings and be ignited at a considerable distance from
the source of leakage.
Escape of even small quantities of the liquefied gas can give rise to large
volumes of vapor / air mixture and thus cause considerable hazard.

To aid in the detection of atmospheric leaks, all LPGs are

required to be odorized.
There should be adequate ground level ventilation where LPG is
stored.
LPG cylinders should not be stored in cellars or basements, which have no
ventilation at ground level.
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NATURAL GAS
Natural gas comprises of:

Methane (major constituent)

Ethane
Propane
Butane
Pentane
Nitrogen
Carbon Dioxide
Traces of other gases and sulphur compounds

Natural gas is a high calorific value fuel

It mixes with air readily and does not produce smoke or soot
It is lighter than air and disperses into air easily in case of leak
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SYNTHESIS GAS
Syngas, or synthesis gas, is a fuel gas mixture consisting
primarily of Water gas (a mixture of carbon monoxide and
hydrogen) and very often some carbon dioxide.
Production methods include:
Steam reforming of natural gas or liquid hydrocarbons to produce
hydrogen
The gasification of coal or biomass
Waste-to-energy gasification facilities

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SYNGAS PRODUCTION
When used as an intermediate in the large-scale, industrial synthesis
of hydrogen, it is produced from natural gas (via the steam reforming
reaction) as follows:

In order to produce more hydrogen from this mixture, more steam is

added and the water gas shift reaction is carried out:

The hydrogen must be separated from the CO2 to be able to use it.
This is primarily done by pressure swing adsorption (PSA), amine
scrubbing, and membrane reactors.
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PRODUCER GAS
Producer gas, also called suction gas, specifically means a fuel
gas made from coke, anthracite or other carbonaceous
material.
Air is passed over the red-hot carbonaceous fuel and carbon
monoxide is produced.
The ideal reaction proceeds as follows:

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PRODUCER GAS CONSTITUENTS

Under ideal conditions:
Carbon Monoxide (34.7%)
Nitrogen (65.3%)

Under normal conditions:

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Carbon Dioxide (5-15%)

Carbon Monoxide (15-30%)
Methane (2-4%)
Hydrogen (10-20%)
Water (6-8%)
Nitrogen (45-60%)
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BLAST FURNACE GAS

Blast furnace gas (BFG) is a by-product of blast furnaces that
is generated when the iron ore is reduced with coke to metallic
iron.
It consists of:
Nitrogen (~60%)
Carbon dioxide (18-20%)
Oxygen
Carbon monoxide

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COKE OVEN GAS

Coke gas is created by high-temperature dry distillation of
coking coals in the absence of oxygen.
The gas mainly consists of hydrogen (50-60%), methane (1550%) and a small percentage of carbon monoxide, carbon and
nitrogen.

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OVERVIEW OF NATURAL GAS

INDUSTRY

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THE WORLD PICTURE OF NATURAL GAS

Major gas producing countries:

Russia
Iran
Qatar
Saudi Arabia
United Arab Emirates
United States
Nigeria
Algeria
Venezuela
Iraq

Six countries possess two thirds of the worlds gas reserves, with
almost half of the reserves located in Iran and Russia
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BENEFITS OF NATURAL GAS OVER COAL

AND OILS
Carbon dioxide production is 30 to 40% less in case
of natural gas as compared to oil and coal
Nitrogen Oxides production is 20% less in case of
natural gas as compared to oil and coal
Particulate formation is significantly less in gas

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P RI MA RY S O UR C ES O F EN ER G Y I N TH E WO RL D I N 2 0 0 3 .
T O TAL E N E R G Y U S E D WAS 4 0 5 Q U A D R I L L I O N B T U

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M A J O R P R O V E N N A T U R A L G A S R E S E R V E S B Y C O U N T R Y.
T O TAL P R O V E N R E S E RVE S E S T I M ATE D T O B E 6 , 0 4 0 T C F

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GAS PRODUCTION (TOP 5 COUNTRIES)

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SOURCES OF NATURAL GAS

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Conventional natural gas generally occurs in deep reservoirs,

Associated Gas
Associated gas is produced with the oil and separated at the
casing-head or wellhead
Gas produced in this fashion is also referred to as casinghead gas, oil well gas, or dissolved gas.
Non-associated gas
Non-associated gas occurs in reservoirs that contain little or
no crude oil
It is sometimes referred to as gas-well gas or dry gas.
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NATURAL GAS COMPOSITION

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TRADITIONAL NATURAL GAS

Traditional natural gases, that is, associated and unassociated
gas from wells, vary substantially in composition
Water is almost always present at wellhead conditions
Unless the gas has been dehydrated before it reaches the gas
processing plant, the common practice is to assume the
entering gas is saturated with water at the plant inlet
conditions.

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IMPORTANT IMPURITIES
Water
Most gas produced contains water, which must be removed.
Concentrations range from trace amounts to saturation.

Sulfur species
If the hydrogen sulfide (H2S) concentration is greater than 2 to 3%,
carbonyl sulfide (COS), carbon disulfide (CS 2), elemental sulfur, and
mercaptans may be present.

NORM.
Naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) may also present
problems in gas processing.
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 Mercury
Trace quantities of mercury may be present in some gases; levels reported
vary from 0.01 to 180 g/Nm3.
Because mercury can damage the brazed aluminum heat exchangers used in
cryogenic applications, conservative design requires mercury removal to a
level of 0.01 g/Nm3

Oxygen.
Some gas-gathering systems operate below atmospheric pressure. As a
result of leaking pipelines, open valves, and other system compromises,
oxygen is an important impurity to monitor.
A significant amount of corrosion in gas processing is related to oxygen
ingress.
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NATURAL GAS - CLASSIFICATION

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Natural Gases commonly are classified:

According to Liquid Content
Either lean or rich
According to Sulfur Content
Either sweet or sour

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LIQUID CONTENT
The more liquids, usually defined as C2+, in the gas, the
richer the gas.
To quantify the liquids content of a natural gas mixture, the industry
uses GPM, or gallons of liquids recoverable per 1,000 standard cubic
feet (Mscf) of gas.
Determination of the GPM requires knowledge of the gas composition
on a mole basis and the gallons of liquid per lb-mole.

The rich and lean terms refer to the amount of recoverable

hydrocarbons present. The terms are relative, but a lean gas
will usually be 1 GPM, whereas a rich gas may contain 3 or
more GPM
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SULFUR CONTENT
Sweet and sour refer to the sulfur (generally H2S) content.
A sweet gas contains negligible amounts of H2S
A sour gas has unacceptable quantities of H2S, which is both
odiferous and corrosive
When present with water, H2S is corrosive. The corrosion products are
iron sulfides, FeSX, a fine black powder.

Sweet Gas

< 4 ppmv of H2S

Allowable limit

4 16 ppmv of H2S

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PROCESSING AND PRINCIPAL

PRODUCTS

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PROCESSING
Purification.
Removal of materials, valuable or not, that inhibit the use of
the gas as an industrial or residential fuel
Separation.
Splitting out of components that have greater value as
petrochemical feedstocks, stand alone fuels (e.g., propane),
or industrial gases (e.g., ethane, helium)
Liquefaction.
Increase of the energy density of the gas for storage or
transportation
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G E N E R I C R AW G A S AN D P R O D U C T S L ATE

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SPECIFICATIONS OF PIPELINE
QUALITY GAS

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MAJOR COMPONENTS AND VAPOR

PRESSURES OF COMMON LIQUID PRODUCTS

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REFERENCES
A. J. Kidney & W. R. Parrish, Fundamentals of Natural Gas
Processing, CRC Press. 2006
Chapter no. 1, 2

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