Da Vinci institute

Petroleum dept.

Natural Gas
5th year
1st Semester
Mizgeen Q. Abdullah
2023-2024
 Introduction
Natural gas is a complex mixture of hydrocarbon with minor amount of inorganic compounds.
• Virtually hundreds of different compounds may be present in natural gas in varying
amounts.
• Even two wells producing from the same reservoir may produce gases of different
composition.
• natural gas is used for electricity generation, heating, and cooking and as a fuel for certain
vehicles.
• It is important as a chemical feedstock in the manufacture of plastics and is necessary for a
wide array of other chemical products, including fertilizers and dyes.

Natural gas is the earth's cleanest burning hydrocarbon:

 Natural gas has the cleanest combustion profile of all the fossil fuels.
 The main products of the combustion of natural gas are carbon dioxide and water vapor.
 Its combustion does not produce ash residues, Sulphur oxides, and only negligible nitrogen.
This setsit apart from all the other fossil fuels
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 Introduction
 Raw natural gas comes from three types of wells: Oil Wells, Gas Wells, and Condensate
 Natural gas is found throughout the world either by Non-associated (itself) or in Association with
crude oil.
 Methane (CH) is the primary component of natural gas.
 Raw natural gas may contain some mixture of butane, propane, and pentane gasses, as well as
some nitrogen, carbon dioxide, and water vapour.

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 Classification of Natural gas according to composition

According to composition, natural gas can be described in two ways: dry gas and wet gas, or poor gas and
rich gas.
Dry gas: The content of liquid C5 + heavy hydrocarbons in wellhead effluent is less than 13.5 cm3/m3 at
standard temperature and pressure.
Wet gas: On analysis of the wellhead effluents which are subjected to standard temperature and pressure,
the content of liquid C5 + heavy hydrocarbons is more than 13.5 cm3 /m3
Poor gas: On analysis of the wellhead effluents which are subjected to standard temperature and pressure,
the content of liquid C5 + heavy hydrocarbons is less than 94 cm3/m3
Rich gas: On analysis of the wellhead effluents which are subjected to standard temperature and pressure,
the content of liquid C5 + heavy hydrocarbons is more than 94 cm3/m3

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 Dry VS Wet natural gas

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 Classification of Natural gas according to content of acidic gases

According to the content of the acidic gases such as H2S and CO2 , natural gas may classified to the
following:
Sour natural gas contains significant amount of acidic gases such as H2S and COS and CO2. This kind of
natural gases is required to be processed and clarified to reach the standards for pipeline transportation.
Clean natural gas is also named as sweet gas. This kind of natural gas contains very minor amount of acidic
gases, and the cleaning (purification) treatment is not required for it.

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 Composition of 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 (C02), 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.

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 Composition of natural gas
Natural gas is considered "dry" when it is almost pure methane, having had most of the other
commonly associated hydrocarbons removed. When other hydrocarbons are present, the natural gas is
"wet". The composition of natural gas varies depending on the field, formation, or reservoir from which
it is extracted.

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 Classification of Gaseous Fuels
A) Fuels naturally found in nature:
- Natural gas
- Methane from coal mines
B) Fuel gases made from solid fuel
- Gases derived from Coal
- Gases derived from waste and Biomass
- From other industrial processes (Blast furnace gas)
C) Gases made from petroleum
- Liquefied Petroleum gas (LPG)
- Refinery gases
- Gases from oil gasification
D) Gases from some fermentation process

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 IMPORTANCE OF GASEOUS FUELS

 Generally very clean burning. Little soot.

 Easy to burn -Excellent mixing
 No problems with erosion or corrosion.
 No ash
 The gas is easy to clean. For example, if sulfur 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}.

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 Disadvantage of gaseous fuel

 Gases are difficult to control and can be dangerous if not handled properly.
 Storage tanks take up a lot of space.
 Gaseous fuels are that it is difficult to store because pressure must be limited, fire
hazards are more prevalent because of higher vapour concentrations, combustion
can produce toxic chemicals not found in traditional fuels, and nitrogen pollution is
an issue.
 It can cause suffocation and explosions if it leaks.

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 Various products (fractions) of raw gas
Raw gas is processed into various products or fractions:
Natural Gas (NG) in its marketable form has been processed for a specific composition of hydrocarbons, sour
and acid components, etc., and energy content. Content is typically 90% methane, with 10% other light
alkenes.

Natural Gas Liquids (NGL) is a processed purified product consisting of 95% ethane, propane, butane or some
higher alkenes separately, or in a blend. Extracted to meet pipeline specifications. It is primarily a raw
material for petrochemical industry and is often processed from the condensate.

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).
• 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.

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 Various products (fractions) of raw gas
Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG): 95% Propane and/or Butane or a mixture are liquefied that has been
compressed to liquid at room temperature and removed from natural gas fields.

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.

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 BASIC CONCEPTS OF NATURAL GAS PROCESSING
1. Phase separation
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 raw gas is pipelined to a gas processing plant.
• Hydrocarbon condensate recovered from natural gas may be shipped without further processing but is
typically stabilized to produce a safe transportable liquid. Unstabilized condensates contain a large
percentage of methane and ethane, which will vaporize easily in storage tanks.

Stabilization is the full removal of light fractions from the condensate, usually achieved by distillation.
Stabilized liquid will generally have a vapor pressure specification (Reid vapor pressurel of <10 psi), as the
product will be injected into a pipeline or transport pressure vessel, which has definite pressure
limitations .

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 BASIC CONCEPTS OF NATURAL GAS PROCESSING
2. Acid gas treating (Sweetening)
In addition to heavy hydrocarbons and water vapor, natural gas often contains other contaminants that
may have to be removed completely or partially.
• Carbon dioxide (CO2)
• Hydrogen sulfide (H.S)
• Other sulfur-containing species such as mercaptans

These compounds are collectively known as "acid gases” H2S when combined with water forms a weak
sulfuric acid, whereas CO and water form carbonic acid, thus the term "acid gas"
Natural gas with H2S or other sulfur compounds present is called "sour gas"
whereas gas with only CO is called "sweet"
Both H2S and CO. are very undesirable, as they cause corrosion and present a major safety risk.

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 BASIC CONCEPTS OF NATURAL GAS PROCESSING
3. Dehydration
Water dew point control is required to meet specifications and to control hydrate formation.
 Gas hydrate formation is a major concern for engineers in pipeline and natural gas transportation
industries as it causes choking/plugging of pipelines and other related problems.
 Methods of preventing hydrate formation in the plant include Lowering the hydrate formation
temperature with chemical inhibition or Dehydration to remove the water.

4. Recovery and Separation of Natural Gas Liquids(NGLs)

 Hydrocarbon dew point or hydrocarbon liquid recovery involves cooling the gas and condensing out
the liquids.
 The residue gas from the NGL recovery section is the final, purified sales gas which is pipelined to
the end-user markets.
 The recovered NGL stream is processes through a fractionation train consisting of three distillation
towers in series: a deethanizer, a depropanizer and a debutanizer.

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 Ideal Gas Law

 The Ideal Gas Law is an equation that describes the behavior of natural gas in a pipeline system
 specifically, the relationship between pressure, temperature, and volume.
 Engineers and operators use the law when designing a gas system and evaluating operating
parameters
 such as how changes in pressure will affect temperature and/or volume.
 The law helps determine what physical configurations are optimal and allows operators to predict how
the system will behave under changing conditions.

PV = nRT

P is pressure
V is volume
T is temperature
N number of moles
R is the universal gas constant which

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 Ideal Gas Law

Where
m = weight of gas
M = molecular weight, lb/lb-mol

Gas compressibility factor is also called ‘‘deviation factor’’ or ‘‘z-factor.’’ Its value reflects how much the real
gas deviates from the ideal gas at a given pressure and temperature.
Definition of the compressibility factor is expressed as:
PV =znRT

Where the gas compressibility factor z is a dimensionless quantity and is defined as the ratio of the actual
volume of n-moles of gas at T and p to the ideal volume of the same number of moles at the same T and p:

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 Properties Natural Gas
 Properties of natural gas are fundamental for designing and analyzing gas production systems in
petroleum industry.
 A gas is defined as a homogeneous fluid of low viscosity and density that has no definite volume but
expands to completely fill the vessel in which it is placed.
 Generally, the natural gas is a mixture of hydrocarbon and nonhydrocarbon gases.
 The hydrocarbon gases that are normally found in a natural gas are methanes, ethanes, propanes,
butanes, pentanes, and small amounts of hexanes and heavier.
 The nonhydrocarbon gases (i.e., impurities) include carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, and nitrogen.

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 Properties Natural Gas
 Specific Gravity of Gas
‘‘Specific gravity gas’’ is defined as the ratio of the apparent molecular weight of the gas to that of air. The
molecular weight of air is usually taken as equal to 28.97 (79% nitrogen and 21% oxygen). Therefore, the gas-
specific gravity is:

Where
ɣg = gas specific gravity
Mair = apparent molecular weight of the air = 28.96
Ma = apparent molecular weight of the gas

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 Properties Natural Gas
 Density of Gas
Because gas is compressible, its density depends on pressure and temperature. Gas density can be
calculated from gas law for real gas with good accuracy:

Where
v = specific volume, ft3/lb
ρg = density, lb/ft3

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 Properties Natural Gas
 Formation Volume Factor of Gas
Gas formation volume factor is defined as the ratio of gas volume at reservoir condition to the gas volume
at standard condition, that is,

Where the unit of formation volume factor is ft3/scf.

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 Temperature Conversions
Temperature conversion formulas refer to changing the value of temperature from one
unit to another. They are many temperature conversion methods. Among them Kelvin,
Celsius and Fahrenheit are the most commonly used methods.

R = F + 460
K= C + 273
F=1.8 C + 32

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 Examples:

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Examples:
Example 2 : Three pounds of n-butane are placed in a vessel at 120°F and 60 psia. Calculate the volume
of the gas assuming an ideal gas behavior. And Calculate the density ?
Solution :
Step 1. Determine the molecular weight of n-butane from :
M= C4H10 = 12*4 + 1*10 = 58
M = 58.123
Step 2. Solve the volume of gas: step 3. calculating the density

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 HOMEWORK

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 HOMEWORK

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 Natural Gas Plants
• Gas coming from an oil well is referred to as “associated gas”, which can exist dissolved in crude oil or
separated from it. Gas coming from the other two types of wells is known as “non-associated gas”. It has
little to no crude oil in its composition.
• A natural gas processing plant separates methane from other hydrocarbons and contaminants.
• The end product is pipeline-quality dry natural gas, which is the one that makes its way to the consumer.

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Natural Gas
 Natural Gas Liquids (NGL)

 Natural gas moves from the wells to the processing plants through a complex network of small-
diameter pipelines.
 NGLs removed from the stream have different applications in refineries and petrochemical plants. This
makes them valuable.

NGLs most common uses are:

• Improving oil recovery in wells
• Providing raw materials for plastic production
• Working as a source of energy.

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 Five Main Processing Stages
Natural gas processing has five main stages:
 Removal of oil and condensate
 Removal of sulfur and carbon dioxide
 Dehydration
 Natural gas liquids (NGLs) extraction
 Fractionation of NGLs

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 Processing Stages
 Removal of Oil and Condensate

• The first step is to separate gas from oil through equipment located near the wellhead. The
process will depend on the gas composition, well location, and separation requirements.
• Separation is quite simple when natural gas is dissolved in oil due to underground pressure.
• It is often done with simple equipment known as a “conventional separator”. It consists of a tank
where gravity brings the oil to the bottom extracting the gas from the top.

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 Processing Stages
 Sulfur and Carbon Dioxide Removal

• When the natural gas presents hydrogen sulfide (H2S), it is known as sour gas.
• In that case, the gas must go through a sweetening process to remove the H2S. It consists of passing the gas
through a tower with an amine solution that absorbs the sulfur. This is similar to the glycol dehydration process.
• The removal of sulfur is crucial due to its safety implications as it can be harmful.
• Also, it causes corrosion which is detrimental for the pipeline and compression systems.

• Carbon dioxide causes pipeline corrosion, increases compression cost, and reduces the heating value.

Natural gas processing plants remove it by using the following technologies:

• Cryogenic distillation
• Membranes
• Amine absorption

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 Processing Stages
 Removal of Water (dehydration)

• Water vapor causes the formation of hydrates, oversaturation, and corrosion. This affects pipelines and
equipment.
• Natural gas processing plants use one of the two most common techniques. Glycol dehydration and
solid-desiccant dehydration.

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 Processing Stages
 Glycol Dehydration
• Glycol is an organic compound that serves as a liquid desiccant for natural gas processing.
• Glycol dehydration consists of passing the wet gas through diethylene glycol (DEG) or triethylene glycol
(TEG). A device often known as a “contractor” is used for this purpose.
• The desiccant absorbs water vapor making its particles heavier which causes them to go to the bottom
of the contactor. After that, the water solution is extracted, leaving the gas dry.

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 Processing Stages
 NGL Extraction
• In general, there are two steps in natural gas liquids treatment.
• NGL must be separated from the stream and then, fractionated down to its base components.
• Natural gas liquids separation usually takes place in a centralized processing plant. Lean oil absorption and
cryogenic natural gas processing are the two methods used.
• In both techniques, the main goal is to produce methane as the sole product, marketed as natural gas.
• The secondary goal is to extract ethane, propane, butanes, and natural gasoline.

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 Processing Stages
 Adsorption
• Adsorption for NGLs separation natural gas works the same as adsorption for dehydration.
• In this technique, they pass the gas through an adsorption tower.
• The desiccant material takes the NGLs to the bottom.
• NGLs are extracted leaving the gas free of liquid hydrocarbons.
• The main difference against dehydration is that instead of glycol, it uses lean oil.

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 Processing Stages
 Fractionation
• Natural gas liquids value is higher when selling its components separately. Thus, the investment in a
fractionation process often makes economic sense.
• After the separation process, the resulting product must be fractionated into its base components.
• This is accomplished through the heating of the stream in several stages to boil hydrocarbons one by one.
• As each of them has distinct boiling points, fractionation is possible.
• The process involves one fractionator named after the hydrocarbon that it will separate. It begins by
removing lighter hydrocarbons and continues to remove the heavier ones like follows:
• Deethanizer: Ethane
• Depropanizer: Propane.
• Debutanizer: It separates specific butanes and leaves pentanes and heavier hydrocarbons in the NGL
stream.

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