Gas processing and liquefaction

(CHE4533)

lecture 8
25.05.2015

Outline

Natural gas transportation

Pipelines
Liquefied natural gas (LNG)
Compressed natural gas (CNG)
Gas to solid (GTS)
Gas to power (GTP)
Gas to liquid (GTL)
Gas to commodity (GTC)
Pipeline capacity design and sizing
Compression

Natural gas transportation

Increasing demand of Natural gas (NG) in many countries
NG has been prompted by a changing worldwide preference
in power generation because of environmental concerns.
As a result, transport of natural gas over long distances has
become very important
Due to the storage difficulties of NG, It also needs to be
transported immediately to its destination after production
from a reservoir

 There are a number of options for transporting natural gas

energy from oil and gas fields to market:
1) Pipelines
2) Liquefied natural gas (LNG)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)

Compressed natural gas (CNG)

Gas to solid (GTS)
Gas to power (GTP)
Gas to liquid (GTL)
Gas to commodity (GTC)

Pipelines
Pipelines are a very convenient
method of transport , especially on
land. However pipelines are not
flexible as the gas will leave the source
and arrive at its (one) destination.
If the pipeline has to be shut down, the
production and receiving facilities and
refinery often also have to be shut
down because gas cannot be readily
stored.

In the last decade, on

average, over 12,000 miles
per year of new gas pipelines
have been completed
most transnationally. Subsea
pipelines are also becoming
a viable option

Liquefied natural gas (LNG)

Liquefied natural gas technology has been proven to be effective since
1970s.
LNG is the liquid form of natural gas. NG is cooled to approximately
162C, liquefies and has a volume approximately 1/600 that of gas at
room temperature & weighs only about 45% as much as an equivalent
amount of water.
LNG is a non-toxic, non-corrosive, colourless & odourless fuel
However, facilities for liquefying natural gas require complex machinery
with moving parts and special refrigerated ships for transporting the
liquefied natural gas to market.
Large cryogenic tanks are needed to store the liquefied natural gas;
typically these may be 70 m in diameter, 45 m high and hold over
100,000 m3 of LNG. Refrigerated tanker is used to carry LNG that holds
135,000 m3 of LNG.
To make LNG thermodynamically effective and cost viable, larger market is
required. LNG can also have significant boil off losses if stored for long
time.

Liquefied natural gas (LNG)

Compressed natural gas(CNG)

NG can be transported in containers at high pressures, typically
1800 psig for a rich gas (e.g. ethane, propane, etc.) to roughly 3600
psig for a lean gas (mainly methane). NG at these pressures is
termed compressed natural gas (CNG).
Compressed natural gas technology provides an effective way for
shorter-distance transport of gas requires compressor and chillers
but less expensive than liquefaction.
The technology is aimed at monetizing offshore reserves, which
cannot be produced because of the unavailability of a pipeline or
because the LNG option is very costly.
Technically, CNG is easy to be installed with lower requirements for
facilities and infrastructure.
For distance up to 2000 kms, CNG is more economical than LNG.

 Compressed natural gas (CNG) is used for vehicular transport

as an alternative to conventional fuels (gasoline or diesel).

Gas to solid (GTS)

Gas can be transported as a solid, with the solid being gas hydrate.
Natural gas hydrate is the product of mixing natural gas with liquid
water to form a stable water crystalline ice-like substance.
GTS involves 3 stages: production + transportation + regasification
1. Natural gas hydrates can be formed purposely by mixing natural
gas and water at 80 to 100 bar and 2 to 10C.
2. If the hydrate (slurry) is refrigerated to around 15C, it
decomposes very slowly at atmospheric pressure so that the
hydrate can be transported by ship to market in simple containers
insulated to near-adiabatic conditions.
3. At the market, the slurry is melted back to gas and water by
controlled warming for use after appropriate drying in electricity
power generation stations or other requirements.
Lower cost than pipeline or LNG as it eliminates low temperature
and necessity of compressing the gas

Hydrate deposits occur naturally and can be found several hundred meters
thick and generally occur in two types of settings:
(1) under Arctic permafrost (2) beneath the ocean floor.

Gas to Power
Currently, much of the transported gas destination is fuel for
electricity generation.
Electricity generation at or near the NG reservoir source and
transportation by cable to the destination(s) (GTP) is possible.
For instance, NG could be used as fuel for an offshore power plant,
which would generate electricity for sale onshore or to other
offshore customers.
Unfortunately, because installing high-power lines to reach the
shoreline, GTP appears to be almost as expensive as pipelines,
which defeats the purpose of an alternative less expensive solution.
There is significant energy loss from the cables along the longdistance transmission lines.
Currently GTP is used for getting energy from unpopulated areas
like Alaska to more populated areas.

Gas to Liquids
In gas to liquid (GTL) transport processes, the natural gas is
converted to a liquid, such as syncrude , methanol and
ammonia, and is transported .
In the first step, methane is mixed with steam and converted
to syngas or synthetic gas (mixtures of carbon monoxide and
hydrogen) using suitable catalyst technology
The syngas is then converted into a liquid using a FischerTropsch process (in the presence of a catalyst) or an
oxygenation method (mixing syngas with oxygen in the
presence of a suitable catalyst).
The produced liquid can be a fuel, usually a clean-burning
motor fuel (syncrude) or lubricant, or ammonia or methanol or
some precursor for plastics manufacture.

Why choose GTL?

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Utilisation of natural gas in stranded locations

Utilisation of associated gas
Synthesis of environmental friendly fuels
Life extension of oil pipelines
Product upgrading

Gas to Commodity
Commodities such as aluminium, glass, bricks, cement, and iron
bars all require large quantities of energy in their making.
In the gas-to-commodity (GTC) concept, the gas is converted to
thermal or electrical power, which is then used in the production of
the commodity, which is then sold on the open market.
The gas energy is transported via the commodity, but there are
many market risks, which should be fully assessed.
The cost of a GTC plant is very high and raw materials for
conversion to commodities, e.g., bauxite, silica sand, and limestone,
may be difficult to import to sites with reliability.
Therefore, much thought has to be given before embarking on the
project(s) and monetizing the gas by this route

Weighing the options for gas transportation

Pipelines - for shorter distance, pipeline is economically more
viable, onshore pipelines are easy to install & technologically less
complicated, only requires pipeline and compressor stations.
However geographical issues (offshore) and political stability can
cause issues
CNG & GTS - Where pipelines are not possible, CNG and GTS
(hydrate) is cost effective compared to LNG this is because they
are more simple with less capital cost requirement. Most effective
for shorter distance and smaller volumes.
LNG - efficient technology for long distance transport, cost efficient
for long distance transport & large quantities, LNG is a better option
for distance above 2000 km
GTL - natural gas is converted directly to liquid products such as
methanol wide group of potential products can be derived using
this method, requires a complex chemical plant for various products

Weighing the options for gas transportation

Pipeline capacity design

The basic concepts involved in pipeline capacity design are shown in
this figure:
The supply sources of natural gas imported into a pipeline could be
from another pipeline, LNG, gas processing plants, and gas gathering
systems.
Gas then goes through a long-distance trunk-line and eventually
reaches the consuming markets.

 During the nonheating season (springsummer), excess

gas goes to LNG peaking facilities and underground
natural gas storage .
During the heating season (winter) or peak period,
additional gas is supplied into the pipeline transmission
system to meet the demand from the customers.
This pattern will be changed in the future because of two
new issues:
1) much larger LNG imports
2) the increasing use of natural gas for electricity generation

Pipeline size
Pipeline design means proper size, appropriate distance
between compression stations, and adequate compressor
sizes
Pipeline throughput depends on pipeline diameter and the
operating pressure; taking into account the length of the
pipeline and the land.
Onshore pipeline operating pressure: 700 to 1,100 psi. For
Offshore pipelines: 1,400 to 2,100 psi
(depending on the material and the age of the pipeline)

Pressure calculation in pipeline

P2

P1
L

After gas processing, the gas in the transport line is purely

methane, a single phase compressible fluid.
The calculations use the average values of Z, T and for the
entire pipeline
The calculations are for horizontal pipelines with the
assumption that kinetic energy pressure drop can be
neglected (as flow rate is not very high)

= (.

)
+

Where:
P1 and P2 are pressure in psi
is gas gravity
is average Z-factor
is average temperature in Rankin
D is diameter in inches
q is flow rate in Mscf/d
L is length in ft
is friction factor

.
.
. .
=

+
.

Where
is pipeline relative roughness (constant)
Reynolds number

= .

Where
is viscosity in cp
D is pipeline diameter in inches

Compression
The pressure of natural gas flowing through a pipeline
decreases along the distance because of friction pressure
drop.
Therefore, compressors are needed to ensure that the
natural gas gets to the destination with sufficient pressure
along the path and outlet.
In pipeline network, compressor stations are usually placed
between 50 and 100 miles apart.
The average horsepower per compression station is about
14,000, and this can move about 700 MMcf/d of natural gas.

 Two types of compressors are used: reciprocating and turbine

engines.
Besides compressors, there are other components in a
compressor station. These include scrubbers and filters.
Although gas is treated before entering the transportation
pipelines, liquid may still condense and accumulate in the
pipelines during the transportation process.
Horsepower (hp or HP) is the work done over a period of
time. One hp equals 33,000 ft-lb/min, or 746 watts, or 75kgm/s.
It is commonly calculated be this expression, Work (W) is

Where k equals Cp/Cv at constant pressure and volume respectively