NATURAL GASNATURAL GAS

• Introduction• What is Natural Gas?• How is it explored & produced?• How is it refined?• What Constitutes Natural Gas?• Activity – Explore your dependence on NG• Quiz

Saven Jude SajenGrade 8

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Oil & Natural Gas in your daily life

Exploration and Production

Introduction

Natural Gas Processing

Refining

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Formation of Natural Gas• Natural gas began with tiny plants and

animals that lived more than 200 million years ago—even before dinosaurs roamed the earth!

• These creatures and plants died and were covered over by mud, sand, and silt.

• Over millions of years, heat and pressure inside the earth turned their decaying

remains into fossils, and then into natural gas.

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What is Natural Gas?• Natural gas is composed mostly of methane (94%), and small

amounts of ethane, propane, butane, and pentane. • Methane, a combination of hydrogen and carbon, is formed

when plants and animals (organic matter) are trapped beneath the sedimentary layers of the earth.

• In its original state, natural gas is odorless and colorless. • Distribution companies add an odorant, Mercaptan, so that it

is easily detectable in the event of leaks. • For easy storage, chilling it to extremely cold temperatures

can liquefy natural gas.

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Where is natural gas found?• Like other fossil fuels, natural gas is found deep underground. Millions

of years ago, these organisms died and were buried along with mud and sand, usually on the floors of lakes, oceans, and riverbeds, with bacteria slowly breaking down this organic matter.

• A rock formation called a gas trap allows the natural gas to form and collect. A trap contains three kinds of rock. – The source rock is the fossilized rock that produces the natural gas. – The reservoir rock is the porous rock that the natural gas seeps into as it rises. – Cap rock, or seal, is the layer of very dense rock above the reservoir rock that

keeps the gas from leaking to the surface.

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Advantages of natural gas

Less refining needsBurns cleanlyMore heat/unit weight than any other fossil fuel

More efficient burning10% energy loss only

60-year supply at current rates

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Disadvantages of natural gas

• Difficult to transport– Pipelines– Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) tankers

• Can be polluting, dangerous when extracted

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Estimated Natural Gas Reserves in the World

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Estimated Use of Fuels in the World

History• The ancient “eternal fires” in the area of present day Iraq that were reported

in Plutarch’s writings around 100 to 125 A.D. probably were from natural gas escaping from cracks in the ground and ignited by lightning.

• In 1821 in Fredonia, New York, William A. Hart drilled a 27 foot deep well in an effort to get a larger flow of gas from a surface seepage of natural gas.

• After the 1890s, however, many cities began converting their street lamps to electricity. Gas producers began looking for new markets for their product.

• In 1885, Robert Bunsen invented a burner that mixed air with natural gas. The “Bunsen burner” showed how gas could be used to provide heat for cooking and warming buildings.

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Explore seven common myths about natural gas

1. Natural gas is explosive.• FALSE. Natural gas doesn’t explode. It will ignite, but only when there is a source of ignition. 2. Natural gas is toxic.• FALSE. Natural gas is non-toxic and cannot cause you to become sick, unless the gas is in such high concentrations.3. Natural gas is heavier than air.• FALSE. When natural gas escapes, it rises and dissipates harmlessly into the atmosphere. 4. Natural gas is bad for the environment.• FALSE. Natural gas is the cleanest burning of all the fossil fuels.5. Natural gas pipelines are dangerous.• Among all pipelines, natural gas pipelines have the best safety record. 6. Natural gas reserves are shrinking.• FALSE. Geologists and industry experts today say there are 50-60 years of proven natural gas reserves, and

additional reserves are being discovered each year.7. Natural gas stinks!• FALSE. Natural gas has no odor. As a safety precaution, a distinctive odorant called mercaptan is added so that if

natural gas escapes, it can be detected.

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CNGCNG or compressed natural gas is an economical, clean burning, alternative fuel source for vehicles.

• Rather than burn gasoline or diesel fuel, a consumer would fuel their vehicle with natural gas. In order to provide enough range, the gas is compressed and stored on the vehicle in pressurized tanks.

• It pollutes less, so such vehicles are now the preferred choice

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• LNG is produced by taking natural gas from a production field, removing impurities, and liquefying the natural gas. In the liquefaction process, the gas is cooled to a temperature of approximately -260 degrees F at ambient pressure.

• The condensed liquid form of natural gas takes up 600 times less space than natural gas.

• Regasification is used to convert the LNG back into its gas form, which enters the domestic pipeline distribution system and is ultimately delivered to the end-user.

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LNG