● Course Outcome to be mentioned which is mapped with this lecture topic.

● Reading Material of this lecture topic.

● Relevant Video links for this lecture topic.
● Relevant Books readings (Web Links / Web Links of PDFs) for this lecture
topic.
● Any web-link to be attached relevant to the topic.

Introduction of Natural Gas

Composition of Natural Gas

In the past, we have blog posts in the past about what is natural gas and how natural
gas was formed. Because natural gas is a very important element to our every day
lives, it is interesting to see how natural gas has formed over many years and how it
was even first discovered.
Compound Symbol Percent in Natural Gas

Methane CH4 60-90

Ethane C2H6 0-20

Propane C3H8 0-20

Butane C4H10 0-20

Carbon Dioxide CO2 0-8

Oxygen O2 0-0.2

Nitrogen N2 0-5

Hydrogen Sulfide H2S 0-5

Rare Gases A, He 0-2

The truth is, the exact composition of natural gas is different depending on the
location. Each well has a different gas composition and different amounts of each
component. Natural gas is a naturally occurring mixture or premixed combustion.
Natural gas is a combustible mixture of hydrocarbon gases. What is a hydrocarbon
you ask? A hydrocarbon is an organic compound of hydrogen and carbon called
petroleum. While natural gas is formed primarily of methane, it also includes ethane,
propane, butane, and pentane.
When there is almost pure methane, natural gas is considered “dry” gas. When the
heavier hydrocarbons are present, the gas is considered “wet.” The gas that we get
as consumers is made up of almost entirely pure methane. Yes, natural gas is
already composed of mostly methane but the gas still must go through processing to
remove the hydrocarbons before it reached the consumer. This means that the
ethane, propane, butane, and pentanes must be removed.
USES OF NATURAL GAS
Natural gas is one of the fossil fuels – along with coal, sulfur, and petroleum. If we
burn natural gas, it releases a significant amount of energy. That is why we use it for
a lot of activities, appliances and tools.
Natural gas is one of the major fossil energy sources. When one standard cubic feet
of natural gas is combusted, it generates 700 Btu to 1,600 Btu of heat, depending
upon gas composition. Natural gas provided close to 24 percent of U.S. energy
sources over the three-year period 2000–02. Natural gas is used as a source of
energy in all sectors of the economy.
Natural Gas Industry
Natural gas was once a by-product of crude oil production. Since its discovery in the United
States in Fredonia, New York, in 1821, natural gas has been used as fuel in areas
immediately surrounding the gas fields. In the early years of the natural gas industry, when
gas accompanied crude oil, it had to find a market or be flared; in the absence of effective
conservation practices, oil-well gas was often flared in huge quantities. Consequently, gas
production at that time was often short-lived, and gas could be purchased as low as 1 or 2
cents per 1,000 cu ft in the field.
The consumption of natural gas in all end-use classifications (residential, commercial,
industrial, and power generation) has increased rapidly since World War II. This growth has
resulted from several factors, including development of new markets, replacement of coal as
fuel for providing space and industrial process heat, use of natural gas in making
petrochemicals and fertilizers, and strong demand for low-sulfur fuels.

The rapidly growing energy demands of Western Europe, Japan, and the United
States could not be satisfied without importing gas from far fields. Natural gas,
liquefied by a refrigeration cycle, can now be transported efficiently and rapidly
across the oceans of the world by insulated tankers. The use of refrigeration to
liquefy natural gas, and hence reduce its volume to the point where it becomes
economically attractive to transport across oceans by tanker, was first attempted on
a small scale in Hungary in 1934 and later used in the United States for moving gas
in liquid form from the gas fields in Louisiana up the Mississippi River to Chicago in
1951.
The first use of a similar process on a large scale outside the United States was the
liquefaction by a refrigerative cycle of some of the gas from the Hassi R’Mel gas field
in Algeria and the export from 1964 onward of the resultant liquefied natural gas
(LNG) by specially designed insulated tankers to Britain and France. Natural gas is
in this way reduced to about one six-hundredth of its original volume and the
nonmethane components are largely eliminated. At the receiving terminals, the LNG
is reconverted to a gaseous state by passage through a regasifying plant, whence it
can be fed as required into the normal gas distribution grid of the importing country.
Alternatively, it can be stored for future use in insulated tanks or subsurface
storages. Apart from its obvious applications as a storable and transportable form of
natural gas, LNG has many applications in its own right, particularly as a
nonpolluting fuel for aircraft and ground vehicles. Current production from
conventional sources is not sufficient to satisfy all demands for natural gas.

Suggested Reading BOOKS

● Negi B.S., “LNG-An Indian Scenario”, Technology Publications, 2008.
Purchase the book.
● B. Guo and A. Ghalambor., ‘Natural Gas Engineering Handbook’, Gulf
Publishing Company, 2005.Download the book.
● D.L. Katz and R.L. Lee., ‘Natural Gas Engineering’, McGraw_Hill,
1990.Download the book.
● G. G. Nasr & N. E. Connor, “Natural Gas Engineering and Safety Challenges”,
Springer, 2014. Download the book.

Reference Link
● https://www.worldometers.info/gas/#:~:text=There%20are
%206%2C923%20trillion%20cubic,levels%20and%20excluding
%20unproven%20reserves).
 ● https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
List_of_countries_by_natural_gas_proven_reserves
● https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Natural_resources_of_India#Natural_gas

Video Link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-njmj0diWu8

USES OF NATURAL GAS