University of Technology

Chemical Eng. Department

Gas Technology
Fourth Year
B.Sc. Course Lectures
By
Dr. Neran K. Ibrahim
 ‫ﺗﻤﻬﻴﺪ‬
‫ﻣﺤﺎﺿﺮة ﺗﻌﺮﻳﻔﻴﺔ ﻋﻦ اﻟﻐﺎز اﻟﻄﺒﻴﻌﻲ‬
‫اﻟﻐﺎز اﻟﻄﺒﻴﻌﻲ أﺣﺪ ﻣﺼﺎدر اﻟﻄﺎﻗﺔ اﻟﺒﺪﻳﻠﺔ ﻋﻦ اﻟﻨﻔﻂ ﻣﻦ اﻟﻤﺤﺮوﻗﺎت ﻋﺎﻟﻴﺔ اﻟﻜﻔﺎءة ﻗﻠﻴﻠ ﺔ اﻟﻜﻠﻔ ﺔ ﻗﻠﻴﻠ ﺔ‬
‫اﻻﻧﺒﻌﺎﺛﺎت اﻟﻤﻠﻮﺛﺔ ﻟﻠﺒﻴﺌﺔ‪ .‬اﻟﻐﺎز اﻟﻄﺒﻴﻌﻲ ﻣﻮرد ﻃﺎﻗﺔ أوﻟﻴّﺔ ﻣﻬﻤﺔ ﻟﻠﺼﻨﺎﻋﺔ اﻟﻜﻴﻤﻴﺎوﻳﺔ ‪.‬‬

‫ﺗﻜﻮﻳﻨﻪ‬
‫ﻳﺘﻜﻮن اﻟﻐﺎز اﻟﻄﺒﻴﻌ ﻰ ﻣ ﻦ اﻟﻌﻮاﻟ ﻖ ) ‪ ، ( Plankton‬وه ﻰ آﺎﺋﻨ ﺎت ﻣﺠﻬﺮﻳ ﺔ ﺗﺘ ﻀﻤﻦ اﻟﻄﺤﺎﻟ ﺐ و‬
‫اﻟﻜﺎﺋﻨ ﺎت اﻷوﻟﻴ ﺔ ﻣﺎﺗ ﺖ و ﺗﺮاآﻤ ﺖ ﻓ ﻲ ﻃﺒﻘ ﺎت اﻟﻤﺤﻴﻄ ﺎت و اﻷرض ‪ ،‬و اﻧ ﻀﻐﻄﺖ اﻟﺒﻘﺎﻳ ﺎ ﺗﺤ ﺖ‬
‫ﻃﺒﻘ ﺎت رﺳ ﻮﺑﻴﺔ ‪ .‬وﻋﺒ ﺮ ﺁﻻف اﻟ ﺴﻨﻴﻦ ﻗ ﺎم اﻟ ﻀﻐﻂ و اﻟﺤ ﺮارة اﻟﻨﺎﺗﺠ ﺎن ﻋ ﻦ اﻟﻄﺒﻘ ﺎت اﻟﺮﺳ ﻮﺑﻴﺔ‬
‫ﺑﺘﺤﻮﻳﻞ هﺬﻩ اﻟﻤﻮاد اﻟﻌﻀﻮﻳﺔ إﻟﻰ ﻏ ﺎز ﻃﺒﻴﻌ ﻰ ‪ ،‬و ﻻ ﻳﺨﺘﻠ ﻒ اﻟﻐ ﺎز اﻟﻄﺒﻴﻌ ﻰ ﻓ ﻲ ﺗﻜﻮﻧ ﻪ آﺜﻴ ﺮًا ﻋ ﻦ‬
‫أﻧﻮاع اﻟﻮﻗﻮد اﻟﺤﻔﺮى اﻷﺧﺮى ﻣﺜﻞ اﻟﻔﺤﻢ و اﻟﺒﺘﺮول ‪ .‬وﺣﻴﺚ أن اﻟﺒﺘﺮول و اﻟﻐﺎز اﻟﻄﺒﻴﻌ ﻰ ﻳﺘﻜﻮﻧ ﺎن‬
‫ﺗﺤﺖ ﻧﻔﺲ اﻟﻈﺮوف اﻟﻄﺒﻴﻌﻴﺔ ‪ ،‬ﻓﺈن ه ﺬﻳﻦ اﻟﻤ ﺮآﺒﻴﻦ اﻟﻬﻴ ﺪروآﺮﺑﻮﻧﻴﻴﻦ ﻋ ﺎد ًة ﻣ ﺎ ﻳﺘﻮاﺟ ﺪان ﻣﻌ ًﺎ ﻓ ﻲ‬
‫ﺣﻘﻮل ﺗﺤﺖ اﻷرض أو اﻟﻤﺎء ‪ ،‬وﻋﻤﻮﻣﺎً اﻟﻄﺒﻘﺎت اﻟﺮﺳ ﻮﺑﻴﺔ اﻟﻌ ﻀﻮﻳﺔ اﻟﻤﺪﻓﻮﻧ ﺔ ﻓ ﻲ أﻋﻤ ﺎق ﺗﺘ ﺮاوح‬
‫ﺑﻴﻦ ‪ 1000‬إﻟﻰ ‪ 6000‬ﻣﺘﺮ ) ﻋﻨﺪ درﺟﺎت ﺣﺮارة ﺗﺘﺮاوح ﺑﻴﻦ ‪ 50‬إﻟ ﻰ ‪ 175‬درﺟ ﺔ ﻣﺌﻮﻳ ﺔ ( ﺗﻨ ﺘﺞ‬
‫ﻻ ﺑﻴﻨﻤﺎ ﺗﻠﻚ اﻟﻤﺪﻓﻮﻧﺔ أﻋﻤﻖ وﻋﻨﺪ درﺟ ﺎت ﺣ ﺮارة أﻋﻠ ﻰ ﺗﻨ ﺘﺞ ﻏ ﺎز ﻃﺒﻴﻌ ﻰ ‪ ،‬وآﻠﻤ ﺎ زاد ﻋﻤ ﻖ‬ ‫ﺑﺘﺮو ً‬
‫اﻟﻤﺼﺪر آﻠﻤ ﺎ آ ﺎن أآﺜ ﺮ ﺟﻔﺎﻓ ًﺎ ) أى ﺗﻘ ﻞ ﻧ ﺴﺒﺔ اﻟﻤﺘﻜﺜﻔ ﺎت ﻓ ﻲ اﻟﻐ ﺎز ( ‪ .‬ﺑﻌ ﺪ اﻟﺘﻜ ﻮن اﻟﺘ ﺪرﻳﺠﻰ ﻓ ﻲ‬
‫اﻟﻘﺸﺮة اﻷرﺿﻴﺔ ﻳﺘﺴﺮب اﻟﻐﺎز اﻟﻄﺒﻴﻌﻰ و اﻟﺒﺘﺮول ﺑﺒﻂء إﻟﻰ ﺣﻔ ﺮ ﺻ ﻐﻴﺮة ﻓ ﻲ اﻟ ﺼﺨﻮر اﻟﻤ ﺴﺎﻣﻴﺔ‬
‫اﻟﻘﺮﻳﺒﺔ اﻟﺘﻰ ﺗﻌﻤﻞ آﻤﺴﺘﻮدﻋﺎت ﻟﺤﻔﻆ اﻟﺨﺎم ‪ ،‬وﻷن هﺬﻩ اﻟﺼﺨﻮر ﺗﻜﻮن ﻋﺎد ًة ﻣﻤﻠ ﻮءة ﺑﺎﻟﻤﻴ ﺎﻩ ‪ ،‬ﻓ ﺈن‬
‫اﻟﺒﺘﺮول و اﻟﻐﺎز اﻟﻄﺒﻴﻌﻰ – و آﻼهﻤﺎ أﺧﻒ ﻣﻦ اﻟﻤﺎء و أﻗﻞ آﺜﺎﻓﺔ ﻣﻦ اﻟﺼﺨﻮر اﻟﻤﺤﻴﻄﺔ – ﻳﻨﺘﻘﻼن‬
‫ﻷﻋﻠ ﻰ ﻋﺒ ﺮ اﻟﻘ ﺸﺮة اﻷرﺿ ﻴﺔ ﻟﻤ ﺴﺎﻓﺎت ﻃﻮﻳﻠ ﺔ أﺣﻴﺎﻧ ًﺎ ‪ .‬ﻓ ﻲ اﻟﻨﻬﺎﻳ ﺔ ُﺗ ـﺤﺒﺲ ﺑﻌ ﺾ ه ﺬﻩ اﻟﻤ ﻮاد‬
‫اﻟﻬﻴﺪروآﺮﺑﻮﻧﻴﺔ اﻟﻤﻨﺘﻘﻠﺔ ﻷﻋﻠﻰ ﻓ ﻲ ﻃﺒﻘ ﺔ ﻻ ﻣ ﺴﺎﻣﻴﺔ ) ﻏﻴ ﺮ ﻣﻨﻔ ﺬة ﻟﻠﻤ ﺎء ( ﻣ ﻦ اﻟ ﺼﺨﻮر ﺗُﻌ ﺮف ﺑ ـ‬
‫ﺻ ﺨﻮر اﻟﻐﻄ ﺎء ) ‪ ، ( Cap Rock‬و ﻷن اﻟﻐ ﺎز اﻟﻄﺒﻴﻌ ﻰ أﺧ ﻒ ﻣ ﻦ اﻟﺒﺘ ﺮول ﻓﻴﻘ ﻮم ﺑﺘﻜ ﻮﻳﻦ ﻃﺒﻘ ﺔ‬
‫ﻓﻮق اﻟﺒﺘﺮول ﺗﺴﻤﻰ ﻏﻄﺎء اﻟﻐﺎز ) ‪ . ( Gas Cap‬وﻻ ﺑﺪ أن ﻳﺼﺎﺣﺐ اﻟﺒﺘﺮول ﻏﺎز ﻳﺴﻤﻰ ﺑ ـ اﻟﻐ ﺎز‬
‫اﻟﻤﺼﺎﺣِﺐ ) ‪ ، ( Associated Gas‬آﺬﻟﻚ ﺗﺤﺘﻮى ﻣﻨﺎﺟﻢ اﻟﻔﺤﻢ ﻋﻠﻰ آﻤﻴﺎت ﻣﻦ اﻟﻤﻴﺜﺎن – اﻟﻤُﻜﻮِن‬
‫اﻟﺮﺋﻴﺴﻰ ﻟﻠﻐﺎز اﻟﻄﺒﻴﻌﻰ ‪ ، -‬و ﻓﻲ ﻃﺒﻘﺎت اﻟﻔﺤﻢ اﻟﺮﺳﻮﺑﻴﺔ ﻳﺘﺸﺘﺖ اﻟﻤﻴﺜﺎن ﻏﺎﻟﺒًﺎ ﺧﻼل ﻣﺴﺎم و ﺷ ﻘﻮق‬
‫اﻟﻤﻨﺠﻢ ‪ ،‬ﻳﺴﻤﻰ هﺬا اﻟﻨﻮع ﻋﺎدة ﺑـ ﻣﻴﺜﺎن ﻣﻨﺎﺟﻢ اﻟﻔﺤﻢ ‪.‬‬

‫اﻻﺣﺘﻴﺎﻃﻴﺎت اﻟﻌﺎﻟﻤﻴﺔ ﻣﻦ اﻟﻐﺎز اﻟﻄﺒﻴﻌﻰ‬

‫ﻧﻈﺮًا ﻻرﺗﻔﺎع اﻟﻤﺴﺘﻮى اﻟﻤﺎدى ﻟﻠﺒﺸﺮ ﻓﻲ اﻟﻌﺎﻟﻢ ﻓﻘﺪ زاد اﺳﺘﻬﻼآﻬﻢ ﻣﻦ اﻟﻄﺎﻗﺔ ﺑﺸﺪة ﻣﻦ أﺟ ﻞ ﺗ ﺴﻴﻴﺮ‬
‫اﻟﺴﻴﺎرات اﻟﺘﻰ ﺗﺤﻤﻠﻬ ﻢ ﻷﻋﻤ ﺎﻟﻬﻢ ‪ ،‬وﻣ ﻦ أﺟ ﻞ اﻟﻜﻬﺮﺑ ﺎء اﻟﺘ ﻰ ﺻ ﺎرت ﻻ ﻏِﻨ ﻰ ﻋﻨﻬ ﺎ ﻓ ﻲ اﻟﺤ ﻀﺎرة‬
‫اﻟﺤﺪﻳﺜ ﺔ ‪ ،‬وﻏﻴ ﺮ ذﻟ ﻚ آﺜﻴ ﺮ ‪ .‬وﺣﻴ ﺚ أن ﻣ ﺼﺎدر اﻟﻄﺎﻗ ﺔ ﻓ ﻲ اﻟﻌ ﺎﻟﻢ ﻧﺎﺿ ﺒﺔ و ﻏﻴ ﺮ ﻣﺘﺠ ﺪدة ﻳُﻌ ﺮَّف‬
‫اﻻﺣﺘﻴ ﺎﻃﻰ اﻟﻤﺆآ ﺪ – ﻣ ﻦ اﻟﺒﺘ ﺮول أو اﻟﻐ ﺎز اﻟﻄﺒﻴﻌ ﻰ ‪ -‬ﻟﺤﻘ ﻞ ﻣ ﺎ ﺑﺄﻧ ﻪ اﻟﻜﻤﻴ ﺔ اﻟﻘﺎﺑﻠ ﺔ ﻟﻼﺳ ﺘﺨﻼص‬
‫ﻋﻠﻰ ﻣﺪى ﻋﻤﺮ اﻟﺤﻘﻞ ﻓﻲ ﻇﻞ اﻟﺘﻜﻨﻮﻟﻮﺟﻴﺎ واﻻﻋﺘﺒﺎرات اﻹﻗﺘﺼﺎدﻳﺔ اﻟﺴﺎﺋﺪة ‪.‬‬
‫وﻃﺒﻘًﺎ ﻟﺘﻌﺮﻳﻒ ﻣﺠﻠﺔ اﻟﺒﺘﺮول و اﻟﻐﺎز ) ‪ ( Oil And Gas Journal‬اﻷﻣﻴﺮآﻴﺔ اﻟﻤﺘﺨﺼﺼﺔ ﻳﺘﻢ‬
‫ﺗﻌﺮﻳﻒ اﻻﺣﺘﻴﺎﻃﻰ اﻟﻤﺆآﺪ ﻣﻦ اﻟﻐﺎز اﻟﻄﺒﻴﻌﻰ ﺑﺄﻧﻪ ‪ :‬اﻟﻜﻤﻴﺎت اﻟﺘﻰ ﻳﻤﻜﻦ اﺳﺘﺨﺮاﺟﻬﺎ ﻓﻲ ﻇﻞ ﻣﺎ ه ﻮ‬
‫ﻣﻌﺮوف ﺣﺎﻟﻴﺎً ﻣﻦ اﻷﺳﻌﺎر و اﻟﺘﻜﻨﻮﻟﻮﺟﻴﺎ ‪.‬‬
‫أﻣ ﺎ هﻴﺌ ﺔ ﺳ ﻴﺪﻳﺠﺎز ) ‪ ( Cedigas‬اﻟﻔﺮﻧ ﺴﻴﺔ ﻓﺘُﻌ ِﺮّﻓ ﻪ ﺑﺄﻧ ﻪ ‪ :‬اﻟﻜﻤﻴ ﺎت اﻟﻤﻜﺘ ﺸﻔﺔ اﻟﺘ ﻰ ﻳﺘﺄآ ﺪ ﺑﻘ ﺪر‬
‫ﻣﻌﻘﻮل ﻣﻦ اﻟﻴﻘﻴﻦ إﻣﻜﺎﻧﻴﺔ إﻧﺘﺎﺟﻬﺎ ﻓﻲ ﻇﻞ اﻟﻈﺮوف اﻻﻗﺘﺼﺎدﻳﺔ و اﻟﻔﻨﻴﺔ اﻟﺴﺎﺋﺪة ‪.‬‬
‫وﻳُﻌ َﺪّ اﻟﺘﻌﺮﻳﻒ اﻷول اﻷآﺜﺮ ﺗﺤﻔﻈًﺎ ﻟ ﺬا ﻧﺠ ﺪ أن اﺣﺘﻴﺎﻃﻴ ﺎت اﻟﻐ ﺎز اﻟﻄﺒﻴﻌ ﻰ اﻟﻌﺎﻟﻤﻴ ﺔ ﻓ ﻲ أول ﻳﻨ ﺎﻳﺮ‬
‫ﻋ ﺎم ‪ 1999‬ﻃﺒﻘ ًﺎ ﻟﺘﻘ ﺪﻳﺮ ﻣﺠﻠ ﺔ اﻟﺒﺘ ﺮول و اﻟﻐ ﺎز ﺗﻘ ﻞ ﺑﻨ ﺴﺒﺔ ‪ % 7‬ﻋ ﻦ ﺗﻘ ﺪﻳﺮات ﺳ ﻴﺪﻳﺠﺎز ‪ ،‬ﺑ ﻞ إن‬
‫اﺣﺘﻴﺎﻃﻴ ﺎت اﻟﻐ ﺎز اﻟﻄﺒﻴﻌ ﻰ ﻟﻤﻨﻄﻘ ﺔ اﻟ ﺸﺮق اﻷﻗ ﺼﻰ آﺎﻧ ﺖ ﻃﺒﻘ ًﺎ ﻟﻠﻤﺠﻠ ﺔ ﺗﻘ ﻞ ﺑﻨ ﺴﺒﺔ ‪ % 30‬ﻋ ﻦ‬
‫ﺗﻘﺪﻳﺮات ﺳﻴﺪﻳﺠﺎز ! ‪ .‬وآﻼ اﻟﺘﻌﺮﻳﻔﻴﻦ ﻳﺨﻀﻊ ﻟﻠﺘﻘﺪﻳﺮ اﻟﺸﺨﺼﻰ أآﺜﺮ ﻣﻨﻪ ﻟﻤﻌﺎﻳﻴﺮ ﻣﻮﺿﻮﻋﻴﺔ ﺛﺎﺑﺘ ﺔ‬
‫ﻳﻤﻜﻦ ﻗﻴﺎﺳﻬﺎ ﺑﺪﻗﺔ‪ .‬وﻗﺪ ﺑﻠﻐ ﺖ اﻻﺣﺘﻴﺎﻃ ﺎت اﻟﻌﺎﻟﻤﻴ ﺔ ﻣ ﻦ اﻟﻐ ﺎز اﻟﻄﺒﻴﻌ ﻲ ﻓ ﻲ ﺑﺪاﻳ ﺔ ه ﺬا اﻟﻌ ﺎم ﺣ ﻮاﻟﻲ‬
‫‪ 6504‬ﺗﺮﻳﻠﻴﻮن ﻗﺪم ﻣﻜﻌﺐ ﻗﻴﺎﺳ ﻲ او ﻣﺎﻳﻜ ﺎﻓﺊ ‪ 180‬ﺗﺮﻳﻠﻴ ﻮن ﻣﺘ ﺮ ﻣﻜﻌ ﺐ ‪ .‬وﻳﻔﻴ ﺪ ﺗﻘﺮﻳ ﺮ إﺣ ﺼﺎﺋﻲ‬
‫ﻟﺸﺮآﺔ ﺑﺮﺗﺶ ﺑﺘﺮوﻟﻴﻮم أن اﻟﻌﺎﻟﻢ ﻟﺪﻳ ﻪ اﺣﺘﻴﺎﻃﻴ ﺎت ﻣﺆآ ﺪة ﻣ ﻦ اﻟﻐ ﺎز اﻟﻄﺒﻴﻌ ﻲ ﺗﻜﻔ ﻲ اﺳ ﺘﻬﻼآﻪ ﻟﻤ ﺪة‬
‫‪ 64‬ﻋﺎﻣﺎ ﺑﺎﻟﻤﻘﺎرﻧﺔ ﻣ ﻊ اﺣﺘﻴﺎﻃﻴ ﺎت ﺗﻜﻔ ﻲ ‪ 40‬ﻋﺎﻣ ﺎ ﻓﻘ ﻂ ﻣ ﻦ اﻟ ﻨﻔﻂ اﻟﺨ ﺎم‪ .‬ﻟﻜ ﻦ أﻏﻠ ﺐ اﻻﺣﺘﻴﺎﻃﻴ ﺎت‬
‫اﻟﻌﺎﻟﻤﻴﺔ ﻣﻦ اﻟﻐﺎز اﻟﻄﺒﻴﻌﻲ ﺗﻮﺟﺪ ﻓﻲ اﻟﻤﻴﺎﻩ اﻟﻌﻤﻴﻘﺔ أو ﻓ ﻲ اﻟ ﺼﺤﺎرى اﻟ ﺸﺎﺳﻌﺔ أو ﻓ ﻲ دول ﻳ ﺼﻌﺐ‬
‫اﻟﺘﻜﻬﻦ ﺑﺎﻟﺘﺤﻮﻻت اﻟﺴﻴﺎﺳﻴﺔ ﻓﻴﻬﺎ‪.‬وﺗﻤﻠﻚ روﺳﻴﺎ ‪ %27‬ﻣﻦ اﺣﺘﻴﺎﻃﻴﺎت اﻟﻐ ﺎز اﻟﻌﺎﻟﻤﻴ ﺔ وإﻳ ﺮان ‪%15‬‬
‫وﻗﻄﺮ ‪ .%14‬وﻳﻮﺟﺪ ﻧﺤﻮ ‪ %58‬ﻣﻦ إﺟﻤﺎﻟﻲ اﻻﺣﺘﻴﺎﻃﻴﺎت ﻓﻲ اﻟﺠﻤﻬﻮرﻳﺎت اﻟﺴﻮﻓﻴﺎﺗﻴﺔ اﻟﺴﺎﺑﻘﺔ‪.‬‬

‫اﻧﺘﺎج اﻟﻐﺎز اﻟﻄﺒﻴﻌﻲ وﻣﻌﺎﻟﺠﺘﻪ‬

‫ﻳﺴﺘﺨﺮج اﻟﻐﺎز اﻟﻄﺒﻴﻌﻲ ﻣﻦ اﺑﺎر ﺷﺒﻴﻬﺔ ﺑﺎﺑﺎر اﻟﻨﻔﻂ و ﻳﻮﺟ ﺪ اﻟﻜﺜﻴ ﺮ ﻣ ﻦ ﺗﺠﻤﻌ ﺎت اﻟﻐ ﺎز ﻋﻠ ﻰ ﻣﺒﻌ ﺪة‬
‫ﻣﻦ اﻟﺸﺎﻃﺊ وﻳﺘﻢ ﻧﻘﻞ اﻟﻐﺎز ﺑﺎﻻﻧﺎﺑﻴﺐ ﻣﻦ ﻣﻨﺼﺎت اﻻﻧﺘﺎج إﻟﻰ ﻧﻘﻄﺔ ﺗﺠﻤﻴﻊ ﻋﻠﻰ اﻟﺸﺎﻃﺊ وﻣﻨﻬﺎ إﻟ ﻰ‬
‫ﻣﻌﻤﻞ ﺗﻜﺮﻳﺮ ﺣﻴﺚ ﻳﻨﻘّﻰ‪.‬‬

‫أﻧﻮاع اﻟﻐﺎز اﻟﻄﺒﻴﻌﻲ‬

‫اﻟﻐﺎز اﻟﻄﺒﻴﻌﻲ ‪ :‬هﻮ ﻋﺒﺎرة ﻋﻦ ﻣﺰﻳﺞ ﻣﻦ اﻟﻤﻮاد اﻟﻬﻴﺪروآﺮﺑﻮﻧﻴﺔ اﻟﺘﻲ ﺗﺘﻮاﺟﺪ ﻓﻲ ﻣﻜﺎﻣﻦ ﺻﺨﺮﻳﺔ‬
‫ﺗﺤﺖ ﺳﻄﺢ اﻷرض و ﻏﺎﻟﺒًﺎ ﻣﺎ ﻳﻜﻮن اﻟﻐﺎز اﻟﻄﺒﻴﻌﻲ ﻣﺘﻮاﺟﺪًا ﻣﻊ اﻟﻨﻔﻂ اﻟﺨﺎم ‪ ,‬إﻣﺎ ﻣﺬاﺑًﺎ او ﻃﺎﻓﻴًﺎ‬
‫ﻋﻠﻰ ﺳﻄﺤﻪ و ﻓﻲ هﺬﻩ اﻟﺤﺎﻟﺔ ﻳﺴﻤﻰ هﺬا اﻟﻨﻮع ﻣﻦ اﻟﻐﺎز " ﻏﺎز ﻣﺼﺎﺣﺐ ")‪(Associated Gas‬‬
‫آﻤ ﺎ ﺗﻮﺟ ﺪ آ ﺬﻟﻚ ﺣﻘ ﻮل ﺗﺤﺘ ﻮي ﻓﻘ ﻂ ﻋﻠ ﻰ اﻟﻐ ﺎز اﻟﻄﺒﻴﻌ ﻲ و ه ﻮ ﻣ ﺎ ﻳ ﺴﻤﻰ " اﻟﻐ ﺎزاﻟﺤﺮ") ‪Free‬‬
‫‪ (Gas‬و ﺟﻤﻴﻊ اﻟﻤﻜﻮﻧﺎت اﻟﻬﻴﺪروآﺮﺑﻮﻧﻴ ﺔ ﻟﻠﻐ ﺎز اﻟﻄﺒﻴﻌ ﻲ ه ﻲ ﻣ ﻦ ﻧ ﻮع اﻟﺒﺮاﻓﻴﻨ ﺎت اﻟﺨﻔﻴﻔ ﺔ اﻟﻘﺎﺑﻠ ﺔ‬
‫ﻟﻼﺷﺘﻌﺎل ﺑﺴﻬﻮﻟﺔ ﺑﻮﺟﻮد اﻟﻬﻮاء و ﻳﻌﺘﺒﺮ ﻏﺎز اﻟﻤﻴﺘ ﺎن أآﺜ ﺮ ﻣﻜﻮﻧ ﺎت اﻟﻐ ﺎز اﻟﻄﺒﻴﻌ ﻲ ﺗ ﻮﻓﺮًا إذ ﺗﺰﻳ ﺪ‬
‫ﻧ ﺴﺒﺘﻪ ﻋ ﻦ ‪ %80‬ﻓ ﻲ أﻏﻠ ﺐ اﻷﺣﻴ ﺎن ﻳﻠﻴ ﻪ اﻹﻳﺜ ﺎن ﻓﺎﻟﺒﺮوﺑ ﺎن ﻓﺎﻟﺒﻴﻮﺗ ﺎن ‪.‬‬
‫وﻳ ﺴﻤﻰ اﻟﻐ ﺎز اﻟﻄﺒﻴﻌ ﻲ " ﺟﺎﻓ ًﺎ " )‪ (Dry Gas‬ﻋﻨ ﺪﻣﺎ ﺗﻜ ﻮن آﻤﻴ ﺔ اﻟﻤﻜﻮﻧ ﺎت اﻟﻬﻴﺪروآﺮﺑﻮﻧﻴ ﺔ‬
‫اﻟﺴﺎﺋﻠﺔ اﻟﻤﺴﺘﺨﻠﺼﺔ ﻣﻨﻪ ﺗﺤ ﺖ اﻟﻈ ﺮوف اﻟﻘﻴﺎﺳ ﻴﺔ ﻣ ﻦ اﻟﺤ ﺮارة و اﻟ ﻀﻐﻂ أﻗ ﻞ ﻣ ﻦ‪ 0.1‬ﻏ ﺎﻟﻮن ﻟﻜ ﻞ‬
‫ﻗﺪم ﻣﻜﻌﺐ ﻣﻦ اﻟﻐﺎز اﻟﻤﻌﺎﻟﺞ أﻣﺎ إذا ﺗﺮاوﺣﺖ هﺬﻩ اﻟﻜﻤﻴﺔ ﺑﻴﻦ ‪ 0.1-0.3‬ﻏﺎﻟﻮن ﻟﻜﻞ ﻗ ﺪم ﻣﻜﻌ ﺐ ﻓ ﺈن‬
‫اﻟﻐﺎز ﻳﻌﺘﺒﺮ " ﻣﺘﻮﺳﻂ اﻟﺮﻃﻮﺑﺔ " أﻣﺎ إذا زادت آﻤﻴﺔ اﻟﺴﻮاﺋﻞ ﻋﻦ ‪ 0.3‬ﻏﺎﻟﻮن ﻟﻜ ﻞ ﻗ ﺪم ﻣﻜﻌ ﺐ ﻓ ﺈن‬
‫اﻟﻐﺎز ﻳﻌﺘﺒﺮ " رﻃﺒ ًﺎ " )‪ (Wet Gas‬أي أﻧﻪ ﻳﺤﺘﻮي ﻋﻠﻰ آﻤﻴﺔ ﻣ ﻦ اﻟ ﺴﻮاﺋﻞ اﻟﻐﺎزﻳ ﺔ اﻟﺘ ﻲ ﻳﻤﻜ ﻦ‬
‫ﻓﺼﻠﻬﺎ واﻹﺳﺘﻔﺎدة ﻣﻨﻬﺎ ﻓﻲ اﻟﻤﺠﺎﻻت اﻟﻌﺪﻳﺪة ‪.‬‬
‫و ﺑﺎﻹﺿﺎﻓﺔ إﻟﻰ اﻟﻬﺪروآﺮﺑﻮﻧﺎت اﻟﻘﺎﺑﻠﺔ ﻟﻺﺣﺘﺮاق ﺗﻮﺟﺪ آﻤﻴﺎت ﻣﺘﻔﺎوﺗﺔ ﻣﻦ اﻟﻐ ﺎزات اﻷﺧ ﺮى ﻏﻴ ﺮ‬
‫اﻟﻘﺎﺑﻠﺔ ﻟﻺﺣﺘﺮاق ‪ .‬إن ﺑﻌﺾ هﺬﻩ اﻟﻐﺎزات ﻏﻴﺮ اﻟﻘﺎﺑﻠﺔ ﻟﻺﺣﺘﺮاق ﻳﻜﻮن ﻣﺘﻮاﺟﺪًا ﺑﻜﻤﻴﺎت ﻋﺎﻟﻴ ﺔ ﻧ ﺴﺒﻴًﺎ‬
‫آﻤﺎ هﻮ اﻟﺤﺎل ﺑﺎﻟﻨﺴﺒﺔ ﻟﻐﺎزات اﻟﻨﻴﺘﺮوﺟﻴﻦ "‪ "N2‬و آﺒﺮﻳﺘﻴﺪ اﻟﻬ ﺪروﺟﻴﻦ "‪ "H2S‬و ﺛ ﺎﻧﻲ أآ ﺴﻴﺪ‬
‫اﻟﻜﺮﺑ ﻮن "‪ "CO2‬ﻓ ﻲ ﺣ ﻴﻦ أن ﺑﻌ ﺾ اﻟﻐ ﺎزات اﻟﺨﺎﻣﻠ ﺔ ﻣﺜ ﻞ اﻷرﺟ ﻮن " ‪ " Ar‬و اﻟﻬﻴﻠﻴ ﻮم "‬
‫‪ "He‬ﻋﺎد ًة ﻣﺎ ﺗﻜﻮن ﻣﺘﻮﻓﺮة و ﻟﻜﻦ ﺑﻜﻤﻴﺎت ﻗﻠﻴﻠﺔ ﺟﺪًا‪.‬‬
‫إزاﻟﺔ اﻟﻐﺎزات اﻟﺤﺎﻣﻀﻴﺔ )‪ (Sour Gases‬ﻣﻦ اﻟﻐﺎز اﻟﻄﺒﻴﻌﻲ ﻳﻌ ﺪ ﻣ ﻦ أه ﻢ اﻟﺘﺤ ﺪﻳﺎت اﻟﺘ ﻲ ﺗﻮاﺟ ﻪ‬
‫اﻟﻌﺎﻣﻠﻴﻦ ﻓﻲ ﺷﺮآﺎت ﺻﻨﺎﻋﺔ اﻟﻐﺎز اﻟﻄﺒﻴﻌﻲ‪ .‬وﺟ ﻮد اﻟﻐ ﺎز اﻟﺤﻤ ﻀﻲ ﻓ ﻲ ﻣﻜﻮﻧ ﺎت اﻟﻐ ﺎز اﻟﻄﺒﻴﻌ ﻲ‬
‫ﻳ ﺴﺒﺐ ﻣ ﺸﺎآﻞ ﻓ ﻲ ﺗﻜﻠﻔ ﺔ ﻋﻤﻠﻴ ﺎت ﺗ ﺴﻴﻴﻞ اﻟﻐ ﺎز واﻟﺒﻴﺌ ﺔ ﻓ ﻲ ﺁن واﺣ ﺪ‪ .‬اﻟﻄ ﺮق اﻟﻤﺘ ﻮﻓﺮة ه ﻲ‬
‫اﻷﻣﺘﺼﺎص اﻟﻜﻴﻤﻴﺎﺋﻲ )‪ (Absorption‬ﺑﺎﺳﺘﺨﺪام ﻣ ﺬﻳﺐ آﻴﻤﻴ ﺎﺋﻲ ‪ ,‬اﻹدﻣ ﺼﺎص )‪(Adsorption‬‬
‫ﺑﺎﺳﺘﺨﺪام ﻣﻮاد ﺻﻠﺒﺔ ﻧ ﺸﻄﺔ آﻴﻤﺎﺋﻴ ﺎ ‪ ,‬اﻟ ـﺘﻔﺎﻋﻞ اﻟﺒﻴﻠ ﻮﺟﻲ ﺑﺎﺳ ﺘﺨﺪام ﺑﻜﺘﻴﺮﻳ ﺎ ﺻ ﺪﻳﻘﺔ ﻟﻠﺒﻴﺌ ﺔ‪.‬و اﺗ ﻀﺢ‬
‫ﻣﻦ ﺧﻼل اﻟﺪراﺳﺎت ﺷﻴﻮع اﺳﺘﺨﺪام ﻣﺬﻳﺒﺎت آﻴﻤﻴﺎﺋﻴﺔ ﺗﻨﺘﻤ ﻲ ﻟﻌﺎﺋﻠ ﺔ " اﻟﻜ ﺎن أﻣ ﻴﻦ" اﻟﺘ ﻲ ﺗﺤ ﺴﻦ ﻣ ﻦ‬
‫ﻋﻤﻠﻴﺔ إزاﻟﺔ اﻟﻐﺎز اﻟﺤﻤﻀﻲ‪.‬‬
‫ﻣﺴﺘﻘﺒﻞ اﻟﻐﺎز اﻟﻄﺒﻴﻌﻲ‬

‫ﺷﻖ اﻟﻐﺎز اﻟﻄﺒﻴﻌﻲ ﻃﺮﻳﻘﻪ ﺑﺼﻌﻮﺑﺔ ‪ ،‬ﻟﻜﻦ ﺑﺜﺒ ﺎت‪ ،‬ﺧ ﻼل اﻟﻌﻘ ﻮد اﻷرﺑﻌ ﺔ اﻟﻤﺎﺿ ﻴﺔ ‪ ،‬ﻟﻴ ﺼﺒﺢ‬
‫ﺛﺎﻟﺚ ﻣﺼﺪر أﺣﻔﻮري ﻓﻲ ﻣﺰﻳﺞ اﻟﻄﺎﻗﺔ اﻟﻌ ﺎﻟﻤﻲ‪ ،‬ﺑﻌ ﺪ اﻟ ﻨﻔﻂ واﻟﻔﺤ ﻢ‪ ،‬وﻧﻈ ﺮًا ﻟﺘ ﺴﺎرع وﺗ ﺎﺋﺮ اﻟﻄﻠ ﺐ‬
‫ﻋﻠﻴﻪ ‪ ،‬وﺗﻄﻮر ﺗﻘﻨﻴ ﺎت ﻣﻌﺎﻟﺠ ﺔ وﺗﺤﻮﻳﻠ ﻪ إﻟ ﻰ ﺳ ﻮاﺋﻞ‪ ،‬ﻳﺘﻮﻗ ﻊ ﻟ ﻪ أن ﻳﻐ ﺪو ﻣﺰاﺣﻤ ًﺎ ﺟ ﺪﻳًﺎ ﻟﻠﻔﺤ ﻢ ﻋﻠ ﻰ‬
‫اﻟﻤﺮﺗﺒﺔ اﻟﺜﺎﻧﻴﺔ ﺑﻌﺪ اﻟﻨﻔﻂ اﻟﺬي ﺳﻴﻈﻞ ﻣﺼﺪر اﻟﻄﺎﻗ ﺔ اﻷول ﺑ ﻼ ﻣﻨ ﺎزع ﻟﻌﻘ ﻮد ﻋﺪﻳ ﺪة ﻗﺎدﻣ ﺔ‪ .‬وﻳﻮﻣﻬ ﺎ‬
‫ﺳﺘﺒﻠﻎ ﺣﺼﺔ اﻟﻐ ﺎز ﻓ ﻲ ﻣ ﺰﻳﺞ اﻟﻄﺎﻗ ﺔ اﻟﻌ ﺎﻟﻤﻲ ﻧﺤ ﻮ ‪ %26‬ﺣﻴ ﺚ ﺳ ﻴﺒﻠﻎ إﺳ ﺘﻬﻼآﻪ ﻋﺎﻟﻤﻴ ًﺎ ﻧﺤ ﻮ ‪4.7‬‬
‫ﺗﺮﻳﻠﻴﻮن م‪ 3‬ﻓﻲ ﻋﺎم ‪ ،2030‬ﻣﺮﺗﻔﻌًﺎ ﻣﻦ ﻧﺤﻮ ‪ 2.8‬ﺗﺮﻳﻠﻴﻮن م‪ 3‬ﺣﺎﻟﻴًﺎ ‪.‬‬

‫وﻳﻌﺮف ﺑﻌﺾ اﻟﻤﺮاﻗﺒﻴﻦ اﻟﻐﺎز ﺑﺄﻧﻪ »ﻓﺎرس ﻋﻠﻰ ﻇﻬﺮ ﺟﻮاد أﺧﻀﺮ«‪ ،‬ﺑﺴﺒﺐ ﻧﻈﺎﻓﺘﻪ وﻣ ﺎ ﻳﺘﻤﺘ ﻊ ﺑ ﻪ‬
‫ﻣﻦ ﻣﻴﺰات ﺑﻴﺌﻴﺔ وﺑﺴﺒﺐ ﻣﻜﺎﻧﺘﻪ آﻮﻗﻮد ﻣﺜﺎﻟﻲ ﻓﻲ ﺗﻮﻟﻴﺪ اﻟﻜﻬﺮﺑﺎء ﻋﻦ ﻃﺮﻳ ﻖ ﺷ ﺒﻜﺎت دواﻣ ﺎت اﻟﻐ ﺎز‬
‫ذات اﻟﺪورة اﻟﻤﺠﻤﻌﺔ‪ .‬وﻃﺎﻟﻤﺎ ﻇﻞ اﻟﻤﻨﺘﺠﻮن واﻟﻤﻮردون ﻗﺎدرﻳﻦ ﻋﻠﻰ ﺗﻮﻓﻴﺮ آﻤﻴﺎت آﺒﻴ ﺮة ﻣ ﻦ ه ﺬﻩ‬
‫اﻟﺰﻳﺎدة ﻓﺴﻮف ﺗﻨﺘﻌﺶ اﻵﻣﺎل اﻟﻌﺎﻟﻤﻴﺔ ﺑﺨﺼﻮص اﻟﻐﺎز اﻟﻄﺒﻴﻌﻲ‪ ،‬إﻟﻰ درﺟﺔ أﻧﻪ ﻗﺪ ﻳﻬﺪد ﻗ ﻮة اﻟﺘ ﺄﺛﻴﺮ‬
‫اﻟﺘﻲ ﻳﺘﻤﺘﻊ ﺑﻪ اﻟﻨﻔﻂ اﻟﺨﺎم‪ ،‬ﺧﺎﺻﺔ ﺑﻌﺪ أن اﺳﺘﻄﺎع اﻟﻐﺎز اﻻﺳﺘﻘﻼل ﻋﻨ ﻪ ﺑﺘﻄ ﻮر اﻟﻘ ﺪرة اﻟﺘﻘﻨﻴ ﺔ ﻋﻠ ﻰ‬
‫اﺳﺘﻜﺸﺎف اﻟﻐﺎز )ﻏﻴﺮ اﻟﻤﺼﺎﺣﺐ( ﻟﻠﻨﻔﻂ وإﻧﺘﺎﺟﻪ وﺗﺴﻮﻳﻘﻪ‪.‬‬

‫وﺑﻌﺪ أن آﺎن اﻟﻐﺎز اﻟﻄﺒﻴﻌﻲ اﻟﻤﺼﺎﺣﺐ ﻟﻠﻨﻔﻂ اﻟﺨﺎم‪ ،‬وﺣﺘﻰ ﺑﺪاﻳﺔ اﻟﺴﺒﻌﻴﻨﻴﺎت ﻣﻦ اﻟﻘﺮن اﻟﻤﺎﺿﻲ ﻳ ﺘﻢ‬
‫إهﺪارﻩ ﺑﺎﻟﻜﺎﻣ ﻞ أﺛﻨ ﺎء ﻋﻤﻠﻴ ﺎت اﻹﻧﺘ ﺎج أو اﻟﺘﻜﺮﻳ ﺮ‪ ،‬ﻓﺈﻧ ﻪ ﺑ ﺎت اﻟﻴ ﻮم اﻟﺒ ﺪﻳﻞ اﻷه ﻢ ﻟﻠ ﻨﻔﻂ ﺧﺎﺻ ﺔ ﺑﻌ ﺪ‬
‫ﻇﻬ ﻮر ﻣﺆﺷ ﺮات دوﻟﻴ ﺔ ﻋ ﻦ ﺑﺪاﻳ ﺔ ﻧ ﻀﻮب اﻟ ﻨﻔﻂ وهﺒ ﻮط ﻣﻌ ﺪﻻت إﻧﺘﺎﺟ ﻪ ﻣ ﻦ ﻣﻮاﻗ ﻊ ﻣﻬﻤ ﺔ ﻣﺜ ﻞ‬
‫اﻟﻮﻻﻳ ﺎت اﻟﻤﺘﺤ ﺪة وﺑﺤ ﺮ اﻟ ﺸﻤﺎل ﻣ ﻊ وﺟ ﻮد إﺷ ﺎرات ﻣﻤﺎﺛﻠ ﺔ ﺗﺒ ﺸﺮ ﺑﺎرﺗﻔ ﺎع ﺳ ﺮﻳﻊ ﻓ ﻲ اﺳ ﺘﻬﻼك‬
‫واﺳﺘﻜﺸﺎف اﻟﻐﺎز‪ .‬ﻓﻘﺪ ازداد اﻟﻄﻠﺐ اﻟﻌﺎﻟﻤﻲ ﻋﻠ ﻰ اﻟﻐ ﺎز ﺧ ﻼل اﻟﻌ ﺸﺮ اﻟ ﺴﻨﻮات اﻟﻤﺎﺿ ﻴﺔ ﻣ ﻦ ‪190‬‬
‫ﻣﻠﻴﺎر ﻗﺪم ﻣﻜﻌﺐ ﻗﻴﺎﺳﻲ ﻓﻲ اﻟﻴﻮم إﻟﻰ اآﺜﺮ ﻣﻦ ‪ 235‬ﻣﻠﻴﺎر ﻗﺪم ﻣﻜﻌ ﺐ ﻗﻴﺎﺳ ﻲ ﺑﺰﻳ ﺎدة ﺳ ﻨﻮﻳﺔ ﻗ ﺪرهﺎ‬
‫‪ 2.2‬ﻓﻲ اﻟﻤﺎﺋﺔ آﻤﺘﻮﺳﻂ‪ .‬وﻳﺘﻮﻗﻊ أن ﺗﺴﺘﻤﺮ اﻟﺰﻳﺎدة ﻋﻠﻰ ﻃﻠﺐ اﻟﻐﺎز ﺧ ﻼل اﻟ ﺴﻨﻮات اﻟﻌ ﺸﺮ اﻟﻘﺎدﻣ ﺔ‬
‫ﺑﻨﺤ ﻮ ‪ 100‬ﻣﻠﻴ ﺎر ﻗ ﺪم ﻣﻜﻌ ﺐ ﻗﻴﺎﺳ ﻲ ﻓ ﻲ اﻟﻴ ﻮم‪ ،‬ﻟﺘﺒﻠ ﻎ ﻧ ﺴﺒﺔ اﻟﺰﻳ ﺎدة اﻟ ﺴﻨﻮﻳﺔ ﻧﺤ ﻮ ‪ 3.2‬ﻓ ﻲ اﻟﻤﺎﺋ ﺔ‬
‫ﺳﻨﻮﻳًﺎ‪ .‬وﻃﺒﻘﺎ ﻟﻠﻮآﺎﻟﺔ اﻟﺪوﻟﻴﺔ ﻟﻠﻄﺎﻗﺔ‪ ،‬ﻓﺴﻮف ﻳﺰﻳﺪ إﺳﻬﺎم اﻟﻐﺎز ﻓﻲ اﻟﻄﺎﻗﺔ اﻟﻌﺎﻟﻤﻴﺔ ﻣﻦ ‪ 24‬ﻓﻲ اﻟﻤﺎﺋﺔ‬
‫إﻟﻰ ‪ 30‬ﻓﻲ اﻟﻤﺎﺋﺔ ﺑﺤﻠﻮل ﻋﺎم ‪.2020‬‬

‫وﻓﻲ ﺣﺎل اﺳﺘﻤﺮت ﻣﻌﺪﻻت زﻳﺎدة اﻟﻄﻠﺐ ﻋﻠﻰ ﻣﺎ هﻲ ﻋﻠﻴ ﻪ أو ارﺗﻔﻌ ﺖ‪ ،‬وﻣ ﻦ اﻟﻤ ﺮﺟﺢ أﻧﻬ ﺎ ﺳ ﻮف‬
‫ﺗﺮﺗﻔ ﻊ‪ ،‬ﻓ ﺈن ذﻟ ﻚ ﻳﻌﻨ ﻲ أن اﻟﻐ ﺎز‪ ،‬ﻗ ﺪ ﻳ ﺼﺒﺢ ﻣ ﺼﺪر اﻟﻄﺎﻗ ﺔ اﻷه ﻢ ﻓ ﻲ اﻟﻌ ﺎﻟﻢ ﺧ ﻼل اﻟﻌﻘ ﻮد اﻟﻘﻠﻴﻠ ﺔ‬
‫اﻟﻘﺎدﻣﺔ ﻓﻴﻤﺎ ﻳﺘﻘﻠﺺ ﺗﺄﺛﻴﺮ اﻟﻨﻔﻂ اﻟﺨﺎم‪.‬‬

‫ﻟﺬﻟﻚ أوﻟﺖ أﺳﻮاق اﻟﻄﺎﻗﺔ إهﺘﻤﺎﻣﺎً ﻣﺘﺰاﻳﺪًا ﻟﻠﻐﺎز اﻟﻄﺒﻴﻌﻲ ﻧﻈﺮًا ﻟﺴﻤﻌﺘﻪ اﻟﺒﻴﺌﻴﺔ آﻮﻗﻮد ﻧﻈﻴﻒ‪ ،‬ووﻓﺮة‬
‫اﻟﻤﺆآ ﺪ ﻣ ﻦ إﺣﺘﻴﺎﻃﻴﺎﺗ ﻪ‪ ،‬وﻷﻧ ﻪ ﻏ ﺪا ﻟﻘﻴﻤ ﺎ أﺳﺎﺳ ﻴﺎ ﻟﻠ ﺼﻨﺎﻋﺎت اﻟﺒﺘﺮوآﻴﻤﺎوﻳ ﺔ‪ ،‬ووﻗ ﻮدا رﺋﻴ ﺴﻴًﺎ ﻓ ﻲ‬
‫ﻣﺤﻄﺎت ﺗﻮﻟﻴﺪ اﻟﻄﺎﻗﺔ اﻟﻜﻬﺮﺑﺎﺋﻴﺔ وﺗﺤﻠﻴﺔ اﻟﻤﻴﺎﻩ ‪ ،‬ﻧﺎهﻴﻚ ﻋﻦ إﺳﺘﺨﺪاﻣﻪ ﻓﻲ اﻟﻤﻨﺎزل ﻟﻠﻄ ﺒﺦ واﻟﺘﺪﻓﺌ ﺔ ‪،‬‬
‫وأﺿﺤﻰ وﻗﻮد ﻟﻠﺴﻴﺎرات – وإن ﻋﻠﻰ ﻧﻄﺎق ﻻﻳﺰال ﺿﻴﻘًﺎ ‪.‬‬

‫ﻟﻘﺪ ﺗﻄﻮرت ﺗﻜﻠﻮﻧﻮﺟﻴﺎ ﺗﺴﻴﻴﻞ اﻟﻐﺎز اﻟﺘﻲ أﺳ ﺘﺨﺪﻣﺖ ﻷول ﻣ ﺮة ﻓ ﻲ اﻟﻤﻨﻄﻘ ﺔ اﻟﻌﺮﺑﻴ ﺔ وﻓ ﻲ اﻟﻌ ﺎﻟﻢ‬
‫ﻓﻲ اﻟﺠﺰاﺋﺮ ﻗﺒﻞ ﻧﺤﻮ ‪ 43‬ﺳﻨﺔ ‪ ،‬وأﺻﺒﺤﺖ ﺗﺴﺘﺨﺪم اﻟﻴﻮم ﻓﻲ ﺧﻤﺴﺔ أﻗﻄﺎر ﻋﺮﺑﻴ ﺔ أﺧ ﺮى ه ﻲ ﻗﻄ ﺮ‬
‫واﻹﻣﺎرات وﻣﺼﺮ وﻟﻴﺒﻴﺎ وﻋﻤﺎن ‪ .‬أﻣﺎ إﺳﺘﺨﺪاﻣﺎﺗﻬﺎ ﻓﻲ ﺗﺤﻮﻳﻞ اﻟﻐ ﺎز إﻟ ﻰ ﺳ ﻮاﺋﻞ ‪ GTL‬ﻟﻜ ﻲ ﻳﻐ ﺪو‬
 ‫ﻟﻘﻴﻤ ًﺎ وﻣﻜﺜﻔ ﺎت ﺗ ﺪﺧﻞ ﻓ ﻲ اﻟ ﺼﻨﺎﻋﺔ اﻟﺒﺘﺮوآﻴﻤﻴﺎوﻳ ﺔ وﻓ ﻲ اﻟﺘﻜﺮﻳ ﺮ ‪ ،‬ﻓﺘﻨﻔ ﺮد ﺑ ﻪ اﻵن دوﻟ ﺔ ﻗﻄ ﺮ ‪.‬‬
‫وﺳ ﺎهﻤﺖ اﻟﺘﻜﻠﻮﻧﻮﺟﻴ ﺎ آ ﺬﻟﻚ ﻓ ﻲ ﺧﻔ ﺾ ﺗﻜ ﺎﻟﻴﻒ ﻣ ﺪ أﻧﺎﺑﻴ ﺐ ﻧﻘ ﻞ اﻟﻐ ﺎز اﻟﻌ ﺎﺑﺮة ﻟﻠﺤ ﺪود واﻟﺒﺤ ﺎر ‪،‬‬
‫وأﺳﻌﺎر ﻧﺎﻗﻼت اﻟﻤﺴﻴﻞ ﻣﻨ ﻪ ‪ ،‬وﺻ ﺎر ﺑﺎﻹﻣﻜ ﺎن ﺑﻨ ﺎء ﻧ ﺎﻗﻼت ﻋﻤﻼﻗ ﺔ ﺗﺘﺠ ﺎوز ﺣﻤﻮﻻﺗﻬ ﺎ ‪ 200‬أﻟ ﻒ‬
‫ﻃ ﻦ ‪ ،‬ﺑ ﺴﻌﺮ ﻳﻘ ﻞ ﺑﻨﺤ ﻮ ‪ %20‬ﻋ ﻦ أﺳ ﻌﺎرهﺎ اﻟ ﺴﺎﺑﻘﺔ ‪ ،‬وﺑﻤﻮاﺻ ﻔﺎت ﺳ ﻼﻣﺔ وأﻣ ﺎن أآﺜ ﺮ‬
‫ﻻ ﻟﻬ ﺬﻩ اﻟﻤﻨﺤ ﻰ اﻹﻳﺠ ﺎﺑﻲ ﻟﻨﻤ ﻮ اﻟﻄﻠ ﺐ اﻟﻌ ﺎﻟﻤﻲ ﻋﻠ ﻰ اﻟﻐ ﺎز ‪ ،‬إﺗﺠ ﻪ ﻣﻨﺘﺠ ﻮﻩ ﻓ ﻲ‬ ‫ﺗﻄ ﻮرًا ‪ .‬وإﺳ ﺘﻐﻼ ً‬
‫اﻟﻤﻨﻄﻘ ﺔ اﻟﻌﺮﺑﻴ ﺔ واﻟﻌ ﺎﻟﻢ إﻟ ﻰ ﺗﻨﻔﻴ ﺬ ﻣ ﺸﺎرﻳﻊ ﺿ ﺨﻤﺔ ﻟﺘ ﺴﻴﻴﻠﻪ‪ ،‬وﻣ ﺪ اﻧﺎﺑﻴ ﺐ ﺑﺮﻳ ﺔ وﺑﺤﺮﻳ ﺔ‪ ،‬ﻹﻣ ﺪاد‬
‫ﻣﻨﺎﻃﻖ اﻹﺳﺘﻬﻼك اﻟﺮﺋﻴﺴﻴﺔ ‪ .‬وﻟﻌﻞ اﻟﻤ ﺸﺎرﻳﻊ اﻟﻌﺮﺑﻴ ﺔ اﻟﺘ ﻲ ﺗﻤ ﺖ أو ﺗ ﺘﻢ إﻗﺎﻣﺘﻬ ﺎ ‪ ،‬إﻧﻄﻼﻗ ًﺎ ﻣ ﻦ ه ﺬا‬
‫اﻟﻤﻨﻈﻮر ‪ ،‬ﻓﻲ آﻞ ﻣﻦ اﻟﺠﺰاﺋﺮ وﻣﺼﺮ ودول اﻟﺨﻠﻴﺞ اﻟﻌﺮﺑﻴﺔ ﺳﻮف ﺗﻠﺒﻲ ﺗﺰاﻳﺪ اﻟﻄﻠﺐ اﻟﻌﺎﻟﻤﻲ ﻋﻠﻰ‬
‫ﻏﺎز اﻟﻤﻨﻄﻘﺔ اﻟﻌﺮﺑﻴﺔ ‪ .‬وﻣ ﻦ ﺟﻬﺘﻬ ﺎ ﺷ ﺮﻋﺖ اﻟﺒﻠ ﺪان اﻟﻤ ﺴﺘﻬﻠﻜﺔ ﻟﻠﻐ ﺎز اﻟﻄﺒﻴﻌ ﻲ ‪ ،‬ﻓ ﻲ ﺑﻨ ﺎء ﻣﺮاﻓ ﻰء‬
‫ﻣﻨﺸﺂت ﻹﺳﺘﻘﺒﺎل آﻤﻴﺎت ﻣﺘﺰاﻳﺪة ﻣﻦ اﻟﻐﺎز اﻟﻤﺴﻴﻞ وإﻋﺎدة ﺗﻐﻮﻳﺰﻩ ‪ .‬وﺳﻴﺴﺎهﻢ ذﻟﻚ ﻓﻲ ﻓﺘﺢ ﻣﺰﻳﺪ ﻣﻦ‬
‫ﻟﻔﺮص أﻣﺎم اﻟﻐﺎز اﻟﻄﺒﻴﻌﻲ اﻟﻤﺴﻴﻞ ‪ ،‬واﻟﻌﺮﺑﻲ ﻣﻨﻪ ﺧﺎﺻﺔ ‪.‬وﻣﻦ اﻟﻤﺘﻮﻗﻊ أن ﺗﻈ ﻞ ﻧ ﺴﺒﺔ ﻧﻤ ﻮ اﻟﻄﻠ ﺐ‬
‫اﻟﻌ ﺎﻟﻤﻲ ﻋﻠ ﻰ اﻟﻐ ﺎز اﻟﻄﺒﻴﻌ ﻲ ﺷ ﺒﻪ ﺛﺎﺑﺘ ﻪ ﻋﻨ ﺪ ﻣ ﺴﺘﻮى ‪ %2‬ﺳ ﻨﻮﻳًﺎ ‪ .‬وﺳﺘ ﺴﺘﺤﻮذ ﻣﺤﻄ ﺎت ﺗﻮﻟﻴ ﺪ‬
‫اﻟﻜﻬﺮﺑﺎء ﻋﻠﻰ ﻣﺎﺑﻴﻦ ‪ 50‬و‪ %70‬ﻣﻦ آﻤﻴﺎت اﻟﻐﺎز اﻟﻤﺴﻮﻗﺔ ‪ ،‬ﻓﻴﻤﺎ ﺗﺴﺘﺄﺛﺮ ﺑﺎﻟﺒﻘﻴﺔ ﻗﻄﺎﻋﺎت اﻟ ﺼﻨﺎﻋﺔ‬
‫واﻟﺘﺠﺎرة واﻟﺴﻜﻦ ‪ .‬وﺳﺘﻈﻞ اﻟﺒﻠﺪان اﻟﺼﻨﺎﻋﻴﺔ ﻓ ﻲ أوروﺑ ﺎ وأﻣﺮﻳﻜ ﺎ اﻟ ﺸﻤﺎﻟﻴﺔ وﻣﻨﻄﻘ ﺔ ﺁﺳ ﻴﺎ‪ /‬اﻟﻬ ﺎدي‬
‫ﻣﺴﺘﻬﻠﻜًﺎ رﺋﻴﺴﻴًﺎ ﻟﻠﻐﺎز اﻟﻄﺒﻴﻌﻲ ‪ ،‬ﻓﻴﻤ ﺎ ﺳﺘ ﺸﻬﺪ ﻣﻨ ﺎﻃﻖ اﻟﻌ ﺎﻟﻢ اﻷﺧ ﺮى ﻓ ﻲ آ ﻞ ﻣ ﻦ ﺁﺳ ﻴﺎ )ﺧ ﺼﻮﺻًﺎ‬
‫اﻟﺼﻴﻦ واﻟﻬﻨﺪ واﻧﺪوﻧﻴ ﺴﻴﺎ( وأﻓﺮﻳﻘﻴ ﺎ ‪ ،‬وآ ﺬﻟﻚ اﻟﻤﻨﻄﻘ ﺔ اﻟﻌﺮﺑﻴ ﺔ إرﺗﻔﺎﻋ ﺎً ﻣﻠﺤﻮﻇ ًﺎ ﻓ ﻲ ﻃﻠﺒﻬ ﺎ ﻋﻠﻴ ﻪ ‪،‬‬
‫ﺑﻔﻌﻞ اﻟﻨﻤﻮ اﻹﻗﺘﺼﺎدي اﻟﺬي ﺗﺤﻘﻘﻪ ‪ ،‬وإﺗﺠﺎﻩ ﻣﺠﺘﻤﻌﺎﺗﻬﺎ إﻟﻰ ﻣﺰﻳﺪ ﻣﻦ اﻟﺘﻤ ﺪن ‪ .‬ﻳﻤﺜ ﻞ اﻟﺠ ﺪول اﻟﺘ ﺎﻟﻲ‬
‫اﺣﺘﻴﺎﻃﻴﺎت اﻟﻐﺎز اﻟﻄﺒﻴﻌﻲ ﻓﻲ اﻟﺪول اﻟﻌﺮﺑﻴﺔ‪.‬‬
Lecture One
Definitions

Pipeline Gas: Gas that has the quality to be used as a domestic or industrial
fuel. It meets the specifications set by a pipeline transmission company,
and/or distributing company.

Sour Gas: Gas that contains more than 1 grain of H2S/100 SCF.

Sweet Gas: Gas in which the H2S content is less than 1 grain /100 SCF.

Wet Gas: Gas that contains more than 0.1 gallons (U.S.) of condensate per
1000 CF of gas.

Dry Gas: Gas that contains less than 0.1 gallons (U.S.) of condensate per
1000 CF of gas.
Rich Gas: Gas containing a lot of compounds heavier than ethane., about
0.7 US gallons of C3+ per 1000 CF of feed to an absorber.

Lean Gas: Gas containing very little propane and heavier – or the effluent
gas from an absorption unit.

Pentanes+: The pentane and heavier fraction of hydrocarbon liquid.

.
Condensates: The hydrocarbon liquid fraction obtained from a gas stream
containing essentially pentanes.

Lean Oil: Absorption oil sent to an absorber.

Rich Oil: Absorption oil containing absorber material. The effluent from an
absorber.

Lean Solution: A stripped sweetening solution.

Rich Solution: A sweetening solution containing absorbed acid gases.

Liquefied natural gas (LNG): When natural gas is cooled to a temperature

of approximately −260 °F (−160 °C) at atmospheric pressure it condenses to
a liquid called liquefied natural gas (LNG). One volume of this liquid takes
up about 1/600th the volume of natural gas at a stove burner tip. LNG is
only about 45% the density of water. LNG is odorless, colorless, non-
corrosive, and non-toxic. When vaporized it burns only in concentrations of
5% to 15% when mixed with air. Neither LNG, nor its vapor, can explode in
an unconfined environment.

Natural gas is composed primarily of methane (typically, at least 90%), but

may also contain ethane, propane and heavier hydrocarbons. Small
quantities of nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide, sulfur compounds, and water
may also be found in "pipeline" natural gas. The liquefaction process
removes the oxygen, carbon dioxide, sulfur compounds, and water. The
process can also be designed to purify the LNG to almost 100% methane.

Compressed natural gas (CNG): Is natural gas pressurized and stored in

welding bottle-like tanks at pressures up to 3,600 psig (25 MPa). Typically,
it is same composition of the local "pipeline" gas, with some of the water
removed. CNG and LNG are both delivered to gas engines as low pressure
vapor (ozf/in² to 300 psig, up to 2.1 MPa). CNG is often misrepresented as
the only form natural gas can be used as vehicle fuel. LNG can be used to
make CNG. This process requires much less capital intensive equipment and
about 15% of the operating and maintenance costs.
Liquid petroleum gas (LPG): and sometimes called propane) is often
confused with LNG and vice versa. They are not the same and the
differences are significant. Varieties of LPG bought and sold include mixes
that are primarily propane, mixes that are primarily butane, and mixes
including propane, propylene, n-butane, butylene and iso-butane. Depending
on the season—in winter more propane, in summer more butane. Vapor
pressures, at 30 °C, are for commercial propane in the range 10-12 barg (1
to 1.2 MPa), for commercial butane, 2-4 barg (0.2 to 0.4 MPa). In some
countries LPG is composed primarily of propane (upwards to 95%) and
smaller quantities of butane.

LPG compared to natural gas has a significantly higher heating value and
requires a different air-to-gas mixture (propane: 24:1, butane: 30:1) for good
combustion.

LPG can be stored as a liquid in tanks by applying pressure alone. While the
distribution of LNG requires heavy infrastructure investments (pipelines,
etc.), LPG is portable. This fact makes LPG very interesting for developing
countries and rural areas. LPG (sometimes called autogas) has also been
used as fuel in light duty vehicles for many years. An increasing number of
petrol stations around the world offer LPG pumps as well. A final example
that should not be forgotten is that the "bottled gas" can often be found
under barbecue grills.

Gaseous Fuels
Classification of Gaseous Fuels

The following is a list of the types of gaseous fuel:

(A) Fuels naturally found in nature:

1. Natural gas
2. Methane from coal mines

(B) Fuel gases made from solid fuel

1. Gases derived from Coal

2. Gases derived from waste and Biomass
3. From other industrial processes (Blast furnace gas)

(C) Gases made from petroleum

 1. Liquefied Petroleum gas (LPG)
2. Refinery gases
3. Gases from oil gasification

(D) Gases from some fermentation processes.

The Importance of Gaseous Fuel

™ Generally VERY clean burning. Little soot. Operate with low
XSA
™ Easy to burn - No grinding or atomization. Excellent mixing
™ No problems with erosion or corrosion
™ No ash
™ The gas is easy to clean. E.g. if sulphur is present, it may be
easily removed prior to combustion.
™ Simplest combustion plant of all - Burners
™ Control system
™ No ash problems
™ Heat exchangers
™ Can be started up and shut down very easily and quickly.

The disadvantages of gaseous fuels are;

ƒ Problems with distribution and storage

ƒ Explosion risk - very volatile.
ƒ Relatively costly. Offset by cheaper and more efficient plant.

Natural Gas
Origin & World Reserves
Natural gas is generally considered a nonrenewable fossil fuel. Natural
gas is called a fossil fuel because most scientists believe that natural gas
was formed from the remains of tiny sea animals and plants that died
200-400 million years ago.

Several differing theories attempt to explain the true origin of natural gas,
though the most widely accepted explanation is that natural gas forms
from the remains of ancient microorganisms as well as plant and animal
matter that have undergone conditions of extreme heat and pressure over
very long periods of time. As such organic matter is buried by increasing
amounts of mud and sediment over time, the resulting pressure forces it
further underground, compressing the matter and subjecting it to the high
temperatures that exist deep within the earth. Intense compression and
high temperature conditions cause carbon bonds in the organic matter to
break down, a chemical transformation resulting in the formation of
natural gas and other fossil fuels.

Another way natural gas is formed is by microorganisms known as

methanogens. Methanogens are microscopic organisms which live in
environments devoid of oxygen and chemically decompose organic
matter, creating methane as a byproduct. Contrary to the natural gas
formed by compression of organic matter under intense pressure at great
depths, methane created by methanogens is typically found closer to the
earth’s surface where the organisms live.

Once natural gas forms within the earth, its low density causes it to rise
through the path of least resistance, often escaping the earth’s crust and
dissipating into the atmosphere. But natural gas deposits that are sought
for extraction form when impermeable rock “traps” the natural gas within
the earth, preventing it from escaping and causing it to collect, creating a
reservoir.

Natural gas is usually located within such reservoirs floating atop oil
deposits, which have formed reservoirs in much the same way. However,
deposits containing only natural gas are not unusual. Both the oil and
natural gas may be extracted by drilling into the impermeable rock
restricting the fossil fuels to the reservoir. The natural pressure already
present within the reservoir allows the fossil fuels to escape on their own
once the rock containing them is penetrated.

Once natural gas is extracted from the earth, it is treated (if necessary)
and distributed to supply the energy on which much of the world relies.
Oil forms at temperatures between about 50°C (120°F) and 175°C
(350°F). At higher temperatures, gas is formed and any oil that has
already been produced starts to turn into lighter oils and eventually into
Methane gas, the lightest and simplest hydrocarbon. At temperatures
above about 260°C (500°F), plant and animal remains turn completely to
carbon and no more oil or gas are produced. Figure (2) shows the world
natural gas reserves.

Fig (2); World Natural Gas Reserves - 2006

Oil Wells
Raw natural gas comes primarily from any one of three types of gas
wells.

1) crude oil wells

2) gas wells
3) condensate wells.

Natural gas wells average 6000 feet deep.

Natural gas that comes from crude oil wells is typically termed associated
gas. This gas can exist separate from the crude oil in the underground
formation, or dissolved in the crude oil.

Natural gas from gas wells and from condensate wells, in which there is
little or no crude oil, is termed non-associated gas. Gas wells typically
produce only raw natural gas, while condensate wells produce raw natural
gas along with a very low density liquid hydrocarbon called natural gas
condensate (sometimes also called natural gasoline or simply
condensate.

Raw natural gas can also come from methane deposits in the pores of coal
seams. Such gas is referred to as coalbed gas and it is also called sweet
gas because it is relatively free of hydrogen sulfide.

Another source of natural gas is the gas produced in landfills. Landfill gas
is considered a renewable source of natural gas since it comes from
decaying garbage.

The gas from coal beds and landfills accounts for three percent of the
total gas supply today, yet their contribution could double by the year
2010.

Composition of natural gas

Natural gas is a complex mixture of hydrocarbon and non-hydrocarbon
constituents and exist as a gas under atmospheric conditions.

The composition of natural gas is never constant, however, the primary

component of natural gas is methane (typically, at least 90%).

Methane is highly flammable, burns easily and almost completely, while

it emits very little air pollution.

It also contains heavier gaseous hydrocarbons such as ethane (C2H6),

propane (C3H8) and butane (C4H10), in.

Also, in the raw state it often contains non hydrocarbons such as

nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide. There are traces of such
compounds as helium, carbonyl sulfide and various mercaptans. It is
also generally saturated with water.

Typical Composition of Natural Gas

Methane CH4 70-90%
Ethane C2H6
Propane C3H8 0-20%
Butane C4H10
 Carbon Dioxide CO2 0-8%
Oxygen O2 0-0.2%
Nitrogen N2 0-5%
Hydrogen sulphide H2S 0-5%
Rare gases A, He, Ne, Xe trace

Energy content
Combustion of 100 ft3 of commercial quality natural gas typically yields
approximately 1 therm (100,000 BTU, 30 kWh). One m3 yields 38 MJ
(10.6 kWh).

Important Facts About Natural Gas:

• Flammability range 5% to 15%
• No color, odor or taste
• Mercaptan is added for odor
• Nontoxic
• Burns with a blue flame
• Liquefies at - 200 °F
• Heating Value 800 to 1200 BTU's per cubic foot.

Storage And Transport

The major difficulty in the use of natural gas is transportation and
storage because of its low density. Natural gas pipelines are economical,
but are impractical across oceans.

LNG carriers can be used to transport liquefied natural gas (LNG) across
oceans, while tank trucks can carry liquefied or compressed natural gas
(CNG) over shorter distances. They may transport natural gas directly to
end-users, or to distribution points such as pipelines for further transport.
These may have a higher cost, requiring additional facilities for
liquefaction or compression at the production point, and then gasification
or decompression at end-use facilities or into a pipeline.

Uses
 • Power generation
• Hydrogen production
• Vehicles
• Residential domestic use
• Fertilizer
• Aviation
• Natural gas is also used in the manufacture of fabrics, glass, steel,
plastics, paint, and other products.

Fig.(3) shows the natural gas uses.

Fig. (3): Natural Gas Uses by Sector (2007)

Lecture Two

Syngas
Syngas (from synthesis gas) is the name given to a gas mixture that
contains varying amounts of carbon monoxide and hydrogen generated
by the gasification of a carbon containing fuel to a gaseous product with a
heating value. Examples include;

• The gasification of coal and in some types of waste-to-energy

gasification facilities.

• Steam reforming of natural gas or liquid hydrocarbons to produce

hydrogen,

The name comes from their use as;

 • intermediates in creating synthetic natural gas (SNG).
• for producing ammonia or methanol.
• Syngas is also used as an intermediate in producing synthetic
petroleum for use as a fuel or lubricant via Fischer-Tropsch
synthesis and previously the Mobil methanol to gasoline process.

Gasification
Gasification is a process that converts carbonaceous materials, such as
coal, petroleum, or biomass, into carbon monoxide and hydrogen by
reacting the raw material at high temperatures > 700 °C with a controlled
amount of oxygen (partial combustion). The resulting gas mixture is
called synthesis gas or syngas and is itself a fuel. Gasification is a very
efficient method for extracting energy from many different types of
organic materials, and also has applications as a clean waste disposal
technique.

: The advantage of gasification is that;

• using the syngas is more efficient than direct combustion of the

original fuel; more of the energy contained in the fuel is extracted.
• Syngas may be burned directly in internal combustion engines,
used to produce methanol and hydrogen, or converted via the
Fischer-Tropsch process into synthetic fuel.
• Gasification can also begin with materials that are not otherwise
useful fuels, such as biomass or organic waste.
• In addition, the high-temperature combustion refines out corrosive
ash elements such as chloride and potassium, allowing clean gas
production from otherwise problematic fuels.

Gasification of fossil fuels is currently widely used on industrial scales to

generate electricity. However, almost any type of organic material can be
used as the raw material for gasification, such as wood, biomass, or even
plastic waste. Thus, gasification may be an important technology for
renewable energy.

: Chemistry
In a gasifier, the carbonaceous material undergoes several different
processes:
 Pyrolysis of carbonaceous fuels

Gasification of char

• The pyrolysis (or devolatilization) process occurs as the

carbonaceous particle heats up. Volatiles are released and char is
produced, resulting in up to 70% weight loss for coal. The process
is dependent on the properties of the carbonaceous material and
determines the structure and composition of the char, which will
then undergo gasification reactions.

• The combustion process occurs as the volatile products and some

of the char reacts with oxygen to form carbon dioxide and carbon
monoxide, which provides heat for the subsequent gasification
reactions. Letting C represent a carbon-containing organic
compound, the basic reaction here is;

C + 1/2 O2 → 2CO

• The gasification process occurs as the char reacts with carbon

dioxide and steam to produce carbon monoxide and hydrogen, via
the reaction;

CO + H2O → CO2 + H2

In addition, the reversible gas phase water gas shift reaction reaches
equilibrium very fast at the temperatures in a gasifier. This balances
the concentrations of carbon monoxide, steam, carbon dioxide and
hydrogen.

Hydrogen production
Hydrogen is used for the hydrotreating and hydrocracking processes. The
hydrogen from reformer is often not sufficient for hydrotreating process.

Hydrogen is commonly produced from hydrocarbon fossil fuels via a

chemical path. Hydrogen may also be extracted from water via biological
production in an algae bioreactor, or using electricity (by electrolysis) or
heat (by thermolysis); these methods are presently not cost effective for
bulk generation in comparison to chemical paths derived from
hydrocarbons. Cheap bulk production of hydrogen is a requirement for a
healthy hydrogen economy.

Hydrogen can be generated from natural gas with approximately 80%

efficiency or other hydrocarbons to a varying degree of efficiency.

1. Steam reforming of natural gas

Commercial bulk hydrogen is usually produced by the steam reforming of

natural gas as shown in Fig.(1). At high temperatures (700–1100 °C),
steam (H2O) reacts with methane (CH4) to yield syngas.

CH4 + H2O → CO + 3 H2 - 191.7 kJ/mol

25-40% NiO/low SiO2/Al2O3 catalyst, (760-816oC)

The heat required to drive the process is generally supplied by burning

some portion of the methane.

• Shift Conversion

Additional hydrogen can be recovered from the carbon monoxide (CO)

through the lower-temperature water gas shift reaction, performed at
about 130 °C:

CO + H2O → CO2 + H2 + 40.4 kJ/mol

Cr2O3 and Fe2O3 as catalyst

• Gas Purification:
The Shift Converter product stream is then scrubbed, usually through
absorption with a potassium carbonate solution to remove the carbon
dioxide.
The potassium carbonate solution is regenerated in a Carbon Dioxide
Still by applying reboiler heat to the tower bottoms. This heat drives off
the carbon dioxide from the solution which is then re-circulated.

• Methanation

Since carbon monoxide (CO) and carbon dioxide (CO2) are poisons to the
catalysts of some of the hydrogen consuming refinery processes.
Methanation is employed as the final step to remove any remaining CO
and CO2 in the hydrogen stream.

The methanation reaction takes place in a fixed-bed reactor consisting of

a nickel-based catalyst. The resulting hydrogen product stream is
typically approximately 95% hydrogen and the balance methane with
only trace amounts of CO and CO2. The Methanation reactions are:

CO + 3H2 --> CH4 + H2O

CO2 + 4H2 --> CH4 + 2H2O

Reaction conditions are at 425oF over Ni/Al2O3 catalyst.

Trace amounts of CH4 can be present in the H2 stream.

Figure (1) Hydrogen production by steam reforming of natural gas

2. Partial Oxidation of fuel oil

Partial oxidation of fuel oil accomplished by burning the fuel at high pressure
(80 - 1300psig ) with pure oxygen which is limited to heat required to convert
the fuel oil to CO and H2.

Steam is added to shift the CO and H2 in a catalytic shift conversion step. CO2
is removed by absorption with hot K2CO3 or other solvent.

2CnHm + nO2 → 2nCO + mH2 (Oxidation)

2nCO+ 2nH2O → 2nCO2 + 2nH2

Fig.(2): Hydrogen Production by Partial Oxidation of Fuel Oil

 Refinery Gasses
In refinery, gas is formed in cracking and reforming operations due to
the thermal degradation of liquid hydrocarbons. During stabilization of
wild gasolines or processed gasolines, the gases are vented. This forms a
major source of heat energy for refinery, as well as feed stock for
petrochemicals. All the gasses contain impurities like CO2, N2,
mercaptans, H2S, water vapor, suspended impurities. First three
paraffins are gases at room temperature. The mixture of methane and
ethane is called dry gas. Propane and butane mixture is called wet gas.

Biogas, Landfill gas, and Methane Hydrates

Methanogenic archaea are responsible for all biological sources of
methane. Methane released directly into the atmosphere would be
considered a pollutant, however, methane in the atmosphere is oxidized,
producing carbon dioxide and water. Methane in the atmosphere has a
half life of seven years, meaning that every seven years, half of the
methane present is converted to carbon dioxide and water.

Future sources of methane, the principal component of natural gas,

include landfill gas, biogas and methane hydrate. Biogas, and especially
landfill gas, are already used in some areas, but their use could be greatly
expanded. Landfill gas is a type of biogas, but biogas usually refers to gas
produced from organic material that has not been mixed with other waste.

Biogas: Typically refers to a gas produced by the biological breakdown

of organic matter in the absence of oxygen. Biogas originates from
biogenic material and is a type of biofuel.

One type of biogas is produced by anaerobic digestion or fermentation of

biodegradable materials such as biomass, manure or sewage, municipal
waste, green waste and energy crops. This type of biogas comprises
primarily methane and carbon dioxide. The other principal type of biogas
is wood gas which is created by gasification of wood or other biomass.
This type of biogas is comprised primarily of nitrogen, hydrogen, and
carbon monoxide, with trace amounts of methane.

The gases methane, hydrogen and carbon monoxide can be combusted or

oxidized with oxygen. Air contains 21% oxygen. This energy release
allows biogas to be used as a fuel. Biogas can be used as a low-cost fuel
in any country for any heating purpose, such as cooking. It can also be
used in modern waste management facilities where it can be used to run
any type of heat engine, to generate either mechanical or electrical power.
Biogas can be compressed, much like natural gas, and used to power
motor vehicles. Biogas is a renewable fuel, so it qualifies for renewable
energy subsidies in some parts of the world.

Landfill Gases: When the organic portion of landfill waste decomposes

under anaerobic (without oxygen) conditions, a gas is produced that is
typically composed of 40-60% methane, with the remainder being mostly
carbon dioxide (CO2). Landfill gas also contains varying amounts of
nitrogen, oxygen, water vapor, sulfur and a hundreds of other
contaminants -- most of which are known as "non-methane organic
compounds" or NMOCs. Inorganic contaminants like mercury are also
known to be present in landfill gas. Sometimes, even radioactive
contaminants such as tritium (radioactive hydrogen) have been found in
landfill gas.

NMOCs usually make up less than 1% of landfill gas. Many of these

compounds are toxic chemicals like benzene, toluene, chloroform, vinyl
chloride, carbon tetrachloride, and 1,1,1 trichloroethane. At least 41 of
these are halogenated compounds. Many others are non-halogenated toxic
chemicals. When halogenated chemicals (chemicals containing halogens -
typically chlorine, fluorine, or bromine) are combusted in the presence of
hydrocarbons, they can recombine into highly toxic compounds such as
dioxins and furans, the most toxic chemicals ever studied.

The general options for dealing with landfill gas (once collected) are as
follows:

1. flare it
2. boiler - makes heat
3. internal combustion engine - makes electricity
4. gas turbine - makes electricity
5. fuel cell - makes electricity
6. convert the methane to methyl alcohol
7. clean it up enough to pipe it to other industries or into the natural
gas lines

Hydrates: A speculative source of enormous quantities of methane is

from methane hydrate, found under sediments in the oceans. However,
as of 2008 no technology has been developed to recover it
economically.
Lecture Three

Natural gas processing

Natural gas processing plants are used to purify the raw natural gas
extracted from underground gas fields and brought up to the surface by
gas wells.

The processed natural gas, used as fuel by residential, commercial and

industrial consumers, is almost pure methane and is very much different
from the raw natural gas.

Raw natural gas typically consists primarily of methane (CH4), the

shortest and lightest hydrocarbon molecule. It also contains varying
amounts of:

• Heavier gaseous hydrocarbons: ethane (C2H6), propane

(C3H8), normal butane (n-C4H10), iso-butane (i-C4H10),
pentanes and even higher molecular weight hydrocarbons.
When processed and purified into finished by-products, all
of these are collectively referred to NGL (Natural Gas
Liquids).
• Acid gases: carbon dioxide (CO2), hydrogen sulfide (H2S)
and mercaptans such as methanethiol (CH3SH) and
ethanethiol (C2H5SH).
• Other gases: nitrogen (N2) and helium (He).
• Water: water vapor and liquid water.
• Liquid hydrocarbons: perhaps some natural gas condensate
(also referred to as casing-head gasoline or natural
gasoline) and/or crude oil.
• Mercury: very small amounts of mercury primarily in
elementary form, but chlorides and other species are possibly
present.

The raw natural gas must be purified to meet the quality standards
specified by the major pipeline transmission and distribution companies.
Those quality standards vary from pipeline to pipeline and are usually a
function of a pipeline system’s design and the markets that it serves.
In general, the standards specify that the natural gas:

• Be within a specific range of heating value (caloric value).

For example, in the United States, it should be about 1,035 ±
5% Btu per cubic foot of gas at 1 atmosphere and 60 °F (41
MJ ± 5% per cubic metre of gas at 1 atmosphere and 0 °C).
• Be delivered at or above a specified hydrocarbon dew point
temperature (below which some of the hydrocarbons in the
gas might condense at pipeline pressure forming liquid slugs
which could damage the pipeline).
• Be free of particulate solids and liquid water to prevent
erosion, corrosion or other damage to the pipeline.
• Be dehydrated of water vapor sufficiently to prevent the
formation of methane hydrates within the gas processing
plant or subsequently within the sales gas transmission
pipeline.
• Contain no more than trace amounts of components such as
hydrogen sulfide, carbon dioxide, mercaptans, nitrogen, and
water vapor.
• Maintain mercury at less than detectible limits
(approximately 0.001 ppb by volume) primarily to avoid
damaging equipment in the gas processing plant or the
pipeline transmission system from mercury amalgamation
and embrittlement of aluminum and other metals.

Description of a natural gas processing plant

There are a great many ways in which to configure the various unit
processes used in the processing of raw natural gas. The block flow
diagram, Figure(1), is a generalized, typical configuration for the
processing of raw natural gas from non-associated gas wells. It shows
how raw natural gas is processed into sales gas pipelined to the end user
markets. It also shows how processing of the raw natural gas yields these
byproducts:

• Natural gas condensate

• Sulfur
• Ethane
• Natural gas liquids (NGL): propane, butanes and C5+ (which
is the commonly used term for pentanes plus higher
molecular weight hydrocarbons)
1- Raw natural gas is commonly collected from a group of adjacent wells
and is first processed at that collection point for removal of free liquid
water and natural gas condensate. The condensate is usually then
transported to an oil refinery and the water is disposed of as wastewater.

2- The raw gas is then pipelined to a gas processing plant where the
initial purification is usually the removal of acid gases (hydrogen sulfide
and carbon dioxide). There are many processes that are available for that
purpose as shown in the flow diagram, but amine treating is the most
widely used process.

Fig. (1): Block Flow Diagram for Natural Gas Processing Plant

3- The acid gases removed by amine treating are then routed into a sulfur
recovery unit which converts the hydrogen sulfide in the acid gas into
elemental sulfur. There are a number of processes available for that
conversion, but the Claus process is by far the one usually selected. The
residual gas from the Claus process is commonly called tail gas and that
gas is then processed in a tail gas treating unit (TGTU) to recover and
recycle residual sulfur-containing compounds back into the Claus unit.
Again, as shown in the flow diagram, there are a number of processes
available for treating the Claus unit tail gas. The final residual gas from
the TGTU is incinerated. Thus, the carbon dioxide in the raw natural gas
ends up in the incinerator flue gas stack.

4- The next step in the gas processing plant is to remove water from the
gas using either regenerable absorption in liquid triethylene glycol (TEG)
or a Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) unit which is regenerable
adsorption using a solid adsorbent. Another newer process using
membranes may also be considered.

5- Mercury is then removed by using adsorption processes (as shown in

the flow diagram) such as activated carbon or regenerable molecular
sieves.

6- Nitrogen is next removed and rejected using one of the three processes
indicated on the flow diagram.

7- The next step is to recover of the natural gas liquids (NGL) for which
most large, modern gas processing plants use another cryogenic low
temperature distillation process involving expansion of the gas through a
turbo-expander followed by distillation in a demethanizing fractionating
column. Some gas processing plants use lean oil absorption process rather
than the cryogenic turbo-expander process.

8- The residue gas from the NGL recovery section is the final, purified
sales gas which is pipelined to the end-user markets.

9- The recovered NGL stream is processes through a fractionation train

consisting of three distillation towers in series: a deethanizer, a
depropanizer and a debutanizer. The overhead product from the
deethanizer is ethane and the bottoms are fed to the depropanizer. The
overhead product from the depropanizer is propane and the bottoms are
fed to the debutanizer. The overhead product from the debutanizer is a
mixture of normal and iso-butane, and the bottoms product is a C5+
mixture. The recovered streams of propane, butanes and C5+ are each
"sweetened" in a Merox process unit to convert undesirable mercaptans
into disulfides and, along with the recovered ethane, are the final NGL
by-products from the gas processing plant.
Lecture Four

Natural Gas Sweetening

What is Gas Sweetening?

Hydrogen sulfide, carbon dioxide, mercaptans, and other contaminants
are often found in natural gas streams. Gas sweetening processes remove
these contaminants so that the gas is marketable and suitable for
transportation

Many natural gases contain hydrogen sulfide (H2S) in concentration

ranging from barely detectable quantities to over 30 mole percent.
Natural gas is usually considered "sour" if the hydrogen sulfide content
exceeds 5.7 milligrams of H2S per cubic meter of natural gas. Natural gas
that is transported to the fuel market must meet legal requirements, which
specify a maximum H2S content less than 4 ppm in the gas.

These requirements are justified, since

1- H2S is a toxic gas, and its combustion product is sulfur dioxide or
trioxide.
2- Besides emitting a bad odor at low concentrations, H2S is deadly
poisonous and at concentrations above 600 ppm it can be fatal in
just three to five minutes. Its toxicity is comparable to cyanide.
Thus, it cannot be tolerated in gas that would be used as domestic
fuel.
3- Further, H2S is corrosive to all metals normally associated with
gas transporting, processing and handling systems, and may lead to
premature failure of most such systems.
4- H2S also reduces the BTU value of gas..

The removal of H2S from natural gas is accompanied by the removal of

CO2 and COS if present, since these have similar acid characteristics.

Desulfurization processes are primarily of two types:

• adsorption on a solid (dry process), and
• absorption into a liquid (wet process).
Both the adsorption and absorption processes may be of the physical or
chemical type.
The dominant sulfur removal/complex train,
1. amine scrubbing.
2. Claus unit.
3. SCOT-type tail gas treating.
4. The Beavon-Stretford tail gas system.

1- Amine Scrubbing

Amine Sweetening Solutions:

Amine gas treating (also known as Gridler process) refers to a group of

processes that use aqueous solutions of various amines to remove
hydrogen sulfide (H2S), mercaptans and/or carbon dioxide (CO2) from
gases through absorption and chemical reaction. It is a common unit
process used in refineries, petrochemical plants, natural gas processing
plants and other industries. The process is also known as Acid gas
removal and Gas sweetening because they results in products which no
longer have the sour, foul odors of mercaptans and hydrogen sulfide.

There are many different amines used in gas treating:

Monoethanolamine (HO-CH2-CH2-NH2) or (MEA): is generally used

in low pressure natural gas treatment applications and in operations
requiring stringent outlet gas specifications.

Diethanolamine (HOC2H4)2NH or (DEA): It is typically used in medium

to high pressure treating.

Methyldiethanolamine (MDEA): has a higher affinity to for H2S and

CO2 which allow some CO2 "slip" while retaining H2S removal
capabilities.

Diglycolamine (DGA): is used when a need exists for carbonyl sulfide

and mercaptan removal in addition to H2S and CO2 removal from gas and
liquid streams.

Diisopropylamine (DIPA)

The most commonly used amines in industrial plants are the

alkanolamines MEA and DEA.
 Reactions:
For MEA

2 RNH2 + H2S ↔ (RNH3)2S

(RNH3)2S + H2S ↔ 2RNH3HS

2RNH2 + H2O + CO2 ↔ (RNH3)2CO3

(RNH3)2CO3 + H2O + CO2 ↔ 2RNH3HCO3

Or

2RNH2 + CO2 ↔ RNHCOONH3R

For DEA

2RNH + H2S ↔ (R2NH2)2S

(R2NH2)2S + H2S ↔ 2R2NH2HS

2R2NH + CO2 + H2O ↔ (R2NH2)2CO3

(R2NH2)2CO3 + CO2 + H2O ↔ 2R2NH2HCO3

Or

2R2NH + CO2 ↔ R2NCOONH2R2

Description of a typical MEA Sweetening Process

A typical amine gas treating process, as shown in figure (1), includes an
absorber unit and a regenerator unit as well as accessory equipments.

1. In the absorber, the downflowing amine solution absorbs H2S

and CO2 from the upflowing sour gas to produce a sweetened
gas stream (i.e., an H2S-free gas) as a product and an amine
solution rich in the absorbed acid gases. Purified gas flows from
the top of the tower.
2. The Lean amine and Rich amine flow through the heat
exchanger, heating the Rich amine.
 3. Rich amine is then further heated in the regeneration still
column by heat supplied from the reboiler. The steam rising
through the still liberates H2S and CO2, regenerating the amine.
4. Steam and acid gases separated from the rich amine are
condensed and cooled.
5. The condensed water is separated in the reflux accumulator and
returned to the still.
6. Hot, regenerated, lean amine is cooled in a solvent aerial cooler
and circulated to the contactor tower, completing the cycle.

Fig. (1): Process flow diagram of a typical amine treating process

Note: Problems on amine unit will be solved in class.

Lecture Five

2- Sulfinol Process

The Sulfinol process is a regenerative process developed to reduce H2S,

CO2, COS and mercaptans from gases. The sulfur compounds in the
product gas can be reduced to low ppm levels.This process has been
developed specifically for treating large quantities of gas, such as natural
gas, which are available at elevated pressures.
The Sulfinol process is unique in the class of absorption processes
because it uses a mixture of solvents, which allows it to behave as both a
chemical and a physical absorption process. The solvent is composed of
Sulfolane, DIPA or MDEA and water. The acid gas loading of the
Sulfinol solvent is higher and the energy required for its regeneration is
lower than those of purely chemical solvents. At the same time it has the
advantage over purely physical solvents that severe product specifications
can be met more easily and co-absorption of hydrocarbons is relatively
low. For selective absorption of H2S, COS and mercaptans, while co-
absorbing only part of the CO2, the Sulfinol-M process is used. Deep
removal of CO2 in LNG plants is another application. Integration of gas
treating with the SCOT solvent system is an option.

Description

The feed gas is contacted counter-currently in an absorption column

with the Sulfinol solvent. The regenerated solvent is introduced at the top
of the absorber. The sulfur compounds loaded solvent (rich solvent) is
heated by heat exchange with the regenerated solvent and is fed back to
the regenerator where it is further heated and freed of the acid gases with
steam.
The acid gases removed from the solvent in the regenerator are cooled
with air or water, so that the major part of the water vapor they contain is
condensed. The sour condensate is reintroduced into the system as a
reflux. The acid gas is passed to the sulfur recovery plant (Claus plant) in
which elemental sulfur is recovered.
 Operating Conditions

Very wide ranges of treating pressures and contaminant

concentrations can be accommodated. Natural gas pipeline
specifications are easily met. Removal of organic sulfur compounds is
usually accomplished by the solvent circulations as set by H2S and
CO2. In LNG plants a specification of 50 ppm CO2 prior to
liquefaction is attained without difficulty.

Features

• Removal of H2S, COS and organic sulfur to natural gas pipeline

specification.
• Low steam consumption and solvent circulation.
• Low corrosion rate.
• Selective removal of H2S in some natural gas applications.
• Smaller equipment due to low foaming tendency.

Note: Other processes on gas sweetening will be discussed in

class.

1. Hot potassium carbonate process

2. Solid bed sweetening
Lecture Six

Sulfur Recovery Processes

Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) is a smelly, corrosive, highly toxic gas. It also

deactivates industrial catalysts. H2S is commonly found in natural gas and
is also made at oil refineries, especially if the crude oil contains a lot of
sulfur compounds.

Because H2S is such an obnoxious substance, it is converted to non-toxic

and useful elemental sulfur at most locations that produce it. The process
of choice is the Claus Sulfur Recovery process.

Description of the Claus Process

First the H2S is separated from the host gas stream using amine
absorption. Then it is fed to the Claus unit, where it is converted in two
steps as shown in fig.(2).

1. Thermal Step. The H2S is partially oxidized with air. This is done
in a reaction furnace at high temperatures (1000-1400 deg C).
Sulfur is formed, but some H2S remains unreacted, and some SO2
is made.

Burner: 2H2S + 3O2 --> 2H2O + 2SO2

2. Catalytic Step. The remaining H2S is reacted with the SO2 at lower
temperatures 450 deg F (about 200-350 deg C) > dew point of S to
prevent condensation on the catalyst, to make more sulfur. A
catalyst is needed in the second step to help the components react
with reasonable speed. Unfortunately the reaction does not go to
completion even with the best catalyst. For this reason two or three
stages are used, with sulfur being removed between the stages.
Engineers know how different factors like concentration, contact
time and reaction temperature influence the reaction, and these are
set to give the best conversions.

Reactor/Converter: 2H2S + SO2 --> 2H2O + 3S

Condenser outlet must be 350oF > melting point of S to prevent the

formation of solid S. Inevitably a small amount of H2S remains in
 the tail gas. This residual quantity, together with other trace sulfur
compounds, COS and CS2, formed in the burner side reaction, is
usually dealt with in a tail gas unit. The latter can give overall
sulfur recoveries of about 99.8%.

Converts H2S to elemental S

Fig. (2) : Claus process

Stretford Process
The Stretford process uses an aqueous solution of sodium carbonate,
which reacts with H2S to form NaHS, as below:

H2S + Na2CO3 → NaHS + NaHCO3

The hydrosulfide is oxidized to sulfur by sodium vanadate:

NaHS + NaHCO3 +NaVO3 → S +Na2V2O5+Na2CO3 + H2O

Subsequently, the vanadium is oxidized back by blowing with air, with

anthraquinone disulfonic acid (ADA) or sodium anthraquinone
disulfonate, acting as an oxidation catalyst:
Na2V2O5 +1/2 O2 → 2NaVO3

The spent absorbent solution flows from the absorber to the regenerator,
where air is sparged into the tower. Tiny particles of sulfur are collected
as a froth at the top of the oxidizer tower. The sulfur froth is skimmed off
the solution and goes down a duct to a filter or centrifuge for the removal
of filtrate from the filter cake. The clear absorbent solution and the filtrate
from the filter are recycled back to the absorber. The sulfur cake may be
washed, dried, melted and added to the product from Claus unit.

Note: Flow chart of the Stretford process will be drawn in

class.

Sulfur Plant Tail Gas Clean-Up Processes

Because of the more stringent requirements of pollution control,
requirements for tail gas clean-up processes are developed..

SCOT process
In the first stage, the Claus tail gas is heated to about 570 0F and reacted
with H2 over a cobalt molybdenum catalyst. All the COS, CS2, S and SO2
in the Claus unit off gas are converted to H2S (Fig.(3)) by the following
reaction

COS, CS2, and SO2 + H2 --> H2S + CO2 + H2O

These reactions are highly exothermic. The hot gas from the reactor is
cooled in a west heat boiler and finally quenched in a water cooling
tower. The final stage involves the selective absorption of H2S in an
amine solution, normally DIPA. The vent gas from the SCOT absorber
typically contains 200–500 ppmv of H2S. This vent is normally
incinerated before discharging to the atmosphere. The rich amine is
stripped in a conventional manner, and the H2S rich stream is recycled
back to the front of the Claus plant.

The Claus + SCOT processes combine to remove 99.5% of the S

 Fig. (3) : SCOT process

Beavon Tail Gas Unit

A hydrotreating reactor converts SO2 in the offgas to H2S. The generated

H2S is contacted with Stretford solution (a mixture of 2 2 2 vanadium
salt, anthraquinone disulfonic acid (ADA), sodium carbonate, and sodium
hydroxide) in a liquid-gas absorber. The H2S reacts stepwise with sodium
carbonate and ADA to produce 2 elemental sulfur, with vanadium serving
as a catalyst. The solution proceeds to a tank where oxygen is added to
regenerate the reactants. One or more froth or slurry tanks are used to
skim the product sulfur from the solution, which is recirculated to the
absorber.

Reactions

H2S + Na2CO3 → NaHS + NaHCO3

NaHS + NaHCO3 +NaVO3 → S +Na2V2O5+Na2CO3 + H2O

Na2V2O5 +1/2 O2 → 2NaVO3

Note 1: Flow chart for the Beavon process will be drawn in

class

Note 2: Problems on sulfur recovery processes will be solved in

class
Lecture Seven

Phase Equilibria Between Vapor and Liquids

Problems involving a vapor and its liquid in equilibrium under ideal
conditions may be analyzed with vapor pressures determined from the
Antoine equation. If a system consists of two phases in equilibrium with
the composition of one phase known, then according to the phase rule it
has a one degree of freedom. Thus knowing the temperature of a vapor-
liquid mixture allows us to find the vapor pressure of the system. Many
pure compounds have vapor pressures that can be fit quite well with the
Antoine equation:

ln(pi*) = Ai - (Bi/(T+Ci))
where;
pi* is the vapor pressure of compound i,
T is the temperature
Ai, Bi, Ci are the Antoine coefficients

The partial pressure of compound i over an ideal liquid with mol fraction
of that compound xi is:

p i = x ipi*

If the vapor is also ideal and the vapor's total pressure is P and the mol
fraction of i in the vapor is yi then:

pi = yiP

Bubble and Dew point Calculations

The bubble point is the temperature at which a liquid mixture starts to
boil .

1) Bubble point calculation

yiP = xipi*(T)
The total pressure is P and the temperature is T. Since the sum of the mol
fractions yi must be 1,

∑yi = 1;

we have a nonlinear equation to solve for the temperature T:

once the bubble point temperature: TBP, is found, the original

(unsummed) equation gives (with TBP used to find the vapor pressures)
the vapor composition.

yi = xipi*(TBP)/P
1)

2) Dew point calculation;

We similarly define the dew point temperature as the temperature at

which the first liquid drop would form when the temperature of a mixture
of vapors is slowly decreased at a specified constant pressure. This time
we know the vapor composition yi and the total pressure P. A nonlinear
equation to find the dew point temperature can be found by solving the
relation between yi and xi for xi and summing the result over all the
compounds.

The Distribution Coefficient Function Ki

In both the bubble and dew point calculations it is conventional to define

the ratio yi/xi as the distribution coefficient Ki. In our ideal system this
coefficient is given by:

Ki(T,P) = yi/xi = pi*(T)/P

Note that the coefficient depends on the temperature T, pressure P and the
compound index i.

Dew Point

This is when the first drop of liquid begins to form.

∑yi = 1.0; and

∑xi = 1.0
xi = yi/Ki

Now since we know "y" we calculate the temperature or pressure (the one
not given) at which x's add up to 1.0 or 100%.

Bubble point

The reverse of a dew point calculation is the bubble point calculation. In

this case we wish to determine when the first bubble or gas starts to form.
Now here we know x, the liquid component. We add up all the y's from
the equation.
y i = Ki x i
so that the sum of y = 1.0 or 100%.i.e.
∑yi = 1.0
Below procedure can be followed for the dew or bubble point calculation:
(1) estimate a value for the temperature TBP;
(2) calculate the Ki [TBP, P, xi];
For this calculation, you need the constant of the Antoine equation and
the total pressure.
(3) verify ∑ Kixi = 1.0 or ∑ yi/Ki = 1.0 ;
(4) iterate steps (1), (2), (3) until the step (3) is fulfilled
Problem (1):

Determine the bubble and dew points of the mixture given at 40 bar
assuming C7+ has the properties of C8. Try TBP = -30 OC, and TDP = 140 OC.

Comp. Fzi K-30 C K 100 C K 140 C

CO2 1.25 1.25 3.75 4.45

H2S 0.50 0.29 2.02 2.58

C1 21.36 3.80 6.24 6.69

C2 36.78 0.41 2.25 2.96

C3 10.21 0.10 1.08 1.61

iC4 8.38 0.039 0.62 1.02

nC4 9.84 0.026 0.52 0.86

iC5 2.63 0.009 0.33 0.61

nC5 4.01 0.007 0.27 0.53

C6 3.90 0.0018 0.14 0.30

C7+ 3.14 0.0002 0.033 0.089

 Equilibrium Flash of Multicomponent Liquid
The equilibrium flash of a multicomponent liquid may be visualized as a
simple distillation process using a single equilibrium stage. It is very
different and more complex than the flash evaporation of single-
component liquid. For a multi-component liquid, calculating the amounts
of flashed vapor and residual liquid in equilibrium with each other at a
given temperature and pressure requires a trial-and-error iterative
solution. Such a calculation is commonly referred to as an equilibrium
flash calculation. It involves solving the following Rachford Rice
equation:

Overall material balance equation :

Material balance equation for any component i :

Equation defining the vapor-liquid equilibrium constant Ki :

Now
 Fzi = VKixi + Lxi
Fzi = xi(VKi+L)
Divide both sides by L and transpose
Fzi/L
xi = ————
(KiV/L)+1
Now
∑ xi = 1.0
For two phases to exist the flash temperature must lie between the bubble
and dew points of the mixture.

∑ Kizi > 1.0 and

∑ zi/Ki > 1.0

The basic calculation procedure for a flash is as follows;

1. Select "K" for each component at the temperature and pressure of
the system.
2. Assume L
3. Solve flash equation for L from
Fzi
∑ xi =∑ —————— = L
(KiV/L) + 1
4. If the assumed L is satisfied, calculation is complete. If not, repeat
steps 1-4.

Problem (2):
Calculate the analysis and quantities of vapor and liquid for a flash at 40
bar and 100 oC for the given mixture in problem (1).
Lecture Eight

Fractionation of Multicomponent Mixtures

Relative volatility
The relative volatility is a measure comparing the vapor pressures of the
components in a liquid mixture.This quantity is widely used in designing large
industrial distillation processes. In effect, it indicates the ease or difficulty of
using distillation to separate the more volatile components from the less
volatile components in a mixture. By convention, relative volatility is usually
denoted as α.

A liquid mixture containing many components is called a multi-component

mixture. When a multi-component mixture is distilled, the overhead fraction
and the bottoms fraction typically contain much more than one or two
components.

Like binary distillations, a multicomponent system cannot operate at less than

minimum values of the reflux ratio. For multicomponent systems, the
minimum reflux is calculated on the basis of separation of two key
components, called the light and the heavy key. Although any two
components can be chosen as the keys, they are usually adjacent in the rank
order or volatility, such a choice is called a sharp separation. Thus, for the
distillation of any multi-component mixture, the relative volatility is often
defined as

α is a unitless quantity. When the volatilities of both key components are

equal, α = 1 and separation of the two by distillation would be impossible
under the given conditions. As the value of α increases above 1, separation by
distillation becomes progressively easier. Large-scale industrial distillation is
rarely undertaken if the relative volatility is less than 1.05.

The values of K have been correlated empirically or theoretically in terms of

temperature, pressure and phase compositions in the form of equations, tables
or graph such as the well-known DePriester charts.
 Limiting Cases

Frequently, when analyzing or designing a process, it is useful to look at

limiting cases to assess the possible values of process parameters. In
distillation analysis, separation of a pair of components can be improved by
increasing the number of stages while holding reflux constant, or by
increasing the reflux flow for a given number of stages. This tradeoff sets up
two limiting cases:

1. Total Reflux (minimum ideal stages)

2. Minimum Reflux (infinite ideal stages)

A good design will operate near a cost optimum reflux ratio.

: Total Reflux
The total reflux condition represents operation with no product removal. All
the overhead vapor is condensed and returned as reflux. The number of
theoretical stages will be a minimum. Often, columns are operated at total
reflux during their initial startup, and product is not withdrawn until a
separation close to that desired is achieved.

In continuous fractional distillation Fenski equation is an equation used for

calculating the minimum number of theoretical plates required for the
separation of a binary feed stream by a fractionation column that is being
operated at total reflux (i.e., which means that no overhead product distillate is
being withdrawn from the column).

(1)

i is more volatile than j (i.e. i is light and j is the heavy key).

If the relative volatility of the light key to the heavy key is constant, from the
column top to the column bottom, then αij is simply α. If the relative volatility
is not constant from top to bottom of the column, then the following
approximation may be used:
 (2)

or
αij = ( αDij αBij )1/2

i.e. αij is the geometric mean of the 's at the temperature of the feed,
distillate and the bottoms or only at the distillate and bottom.

: Minimum Reflux
Unlike binary systems, in multicomponent systems there are two ``pinch"
regions - one above the feed and one below the feed (for minimum
reflux). An approximate (but fairly accurate) method for calculating Rmin
is given by Underwood. Two equations must be solved.

(3)

(4)

where αi is equal to Ki/Kref where Kref is the K value for the heavy key.
The correct value of Ø lies between the values of for the keys; i.e.
solve the first equation for Ø, use this value to get Rmin. Notice that while
all components of feed are in the first equation, the second equation
contains only those found in the distillate. If there are more than one or
more compounds in the feed between the light and the heavy keys, there
are 2 or more values of Ø between the 's (of the keys) that will satisfy
the first equation.The correct value is found by solving the equations(
and ) simultaneously.

Alternatively; use the following method:

1. Calculate the light key concentration in vapor phase which is in

equilibrium with the bubble point feed.
yFv = (αxF) / [ 1+ (α-1)xF]
2. Calculate m as;
m = (xR-yFv) / (xR – xF)
3. Calculate the minimum reflux to distillate ratio as;
 Rmin = m/ (1-m)
Where;
xR = mole fraction in reflux
xF = mole fraction in feed
xFv = mole fraction in feed point equilibrium liquid
yFv = mole fraction in feed point equilibrium vapor

For dew point vapor feed yields

xFv = xF / [α – (α – 1)xF]
m = (xR – xF) / (xR – xFv)
Rmin = m / (1-m)

For feeds which are partially flashed, the value of Rmin can be closely
approximated by interpolating between the values for saturated liquid
and saturated vapor feed flash.

Actual number of stages

Gilliland Correlation- Given Nmin and Rmin we can relate the actual reflux
ratio R and the actual number of stages N. This is only valid for system
near atmospheric pressure.

X = (R - Rmin)/(R + 1) Y = (N - Nmin)/(N + 1)

There are a number of equations that can be used to represent the plot.

The Eduljee Equation is:

(5)

The Chung Equation is

(6)

Molkanov's Equation is

(7)
The most popular method for determining the best feed locations are done
using Fenske's equation and the Kirkbridge equation which is given
below

(8)

where NR is the number of stages above the feed, while NS is the number
of stages below the feed. Since NR + NS = N where N is the total number
of stages, we can easily calculate the location of the feed plate.

Efficiency:
We have determined the number of theoretical plates or equilibrium
required for a separation. The number of actual plates required is
determined as;

N*(number of theoretical trays)

E (overall efficiency) = ———————————————

N (number of actual trays)

Home work;
A distillation column is to separate 4750 moles of feed composed of 37
mole% n-butane, 32 mole% isopentane, 21 mole% n-pentane and 10
mole% n-hexane. The feed is supplied as a mixture of 75 % liquid, 25 %
vapor (i.e. q value is 0.75) The column operates at an average pressure of
2 atm and is required to produce a distillate product containing 95 mole%
n-butane and 5 mole% isopentane. The bottoms should not contain more
than 570 moles of n-butane.

1. Calculate the minimum reflux required.

2. Determine the minimum number of stages
3. Determine the number of theoretical stages required if the actual
reflux is 1.2 times the minimum reflux. Use the Eduljee Equation(5),
the Chung Equation (6) and the Molkanov Equation (7). Are the
results different?
4. If the column efficiency is 75%, calculate the number of actual
trays.

Note: Problems will be solved in class