Gaseous Fuels

Sana Ahmad Minhas

sanaahmad0070@gmail.com

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Gaseous Fuels
• Gaseous fuels are obtained either naturally or by the treatment of
solid or liquid fuel.
• Among the naturally occurring gaseous fuels natural gas and liquefied
petroleum gas are the most important.
• These gases have high calorific value.

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Gaseous Fuels
Gaseous fuels in common use are:

• Natural gas
• Liquefied petroleum gas
• Producer gas
• Coke oven gas
• Blast furnace gas

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Natural Gas
• Natural Gas is a clean, safe, efficient and environment friendly fuel. It contributes
about 46% of the total primary energy supply mix in the country.
• Pakistan has an extensive gas network of over 12,202 Km Transmission 119,736
KM Distribution and 32,823 Services gas pipelines to cater the requirement of
more than 8.4 Million consumers across the country by providing about 4 Billion
Cubic Feet per day natural gas.

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 How Does Natural Gas Form?
Natural gas forms over millions of years from the decomposition,
deep burial of organic (plant and animal) matter under intense
pressure and heat . It is contained in rock formations such as shale.
Shale is plentiful in Pennsylvania. Origin of Oil and Gas is same.
Natural Gas
• The only gas occurring in nature.
• May be found with (associated) or without (unassociated) crude oil.
• Contains 60 to 90% methane, rest are propane, butane, heavier and more
complex hydrocarbons, carbon dioxide and nitrogen plus some helium.
Use of Natural Gas?
 Natural gas is used as a fuel for heating, cooking, electricity generation, industry
and in the production of synthetic materials such as paint, fertilizer, plastic,
antifreeze, and more.
 Although the burning of natural gas produces carbon dioxide, it is considered a
much cleaner fossil fuel than coal or petroleum. Slightly more than half of the
homes in the United States use natural gas as their main heating fuel.
 Natural Gas
 Natural gas is obtained from deposits in sedimentary rock formations which are also
sources of oil.
 It is extracted from production fields and piped (at approximately 90 bar) to a
processing plant where condensable hydrocarbons are extracted from the raw product.
 It is then distributed in a high-pressure mains system.
 Pressure losses are made up by intermediate booster stations and the pressure is
dropped to around 2500 Pa in governor installations where gas is taken from the mains
and enters local distribution networks.

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 Composition of Natural Gas
 The composition of a natural gas will vary according to where it was extracted from, but
the principal constituent is always methane.
 There are generally small quantities of higher hydrocarbons together with around 1% by
volume of inert gas (mostly nitrogen).
 The characteristics of a typical natural gas are:

 Composition (% vol)

CH4 92
other HC 5
inert gases 3
Density (kg/m3) 0.7
Gross calorific value (MJ/m3) 41

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 Important Impurities
• Water
• Most gas produced contains water, which must be removed.
• Concentrations range from trace amounts to saturation.

• Sulfur species
• If the hydrogen sulfide (H2S) concentration is greater than 2 to 3%, carbonyl sulfide
(COS), carbon disulfide (CS2), elemental sulfur, and mercaptans may be present.

• Naturally occurring radioactive materials

• Naturally occurring radioactive materials may also present problems in gas processing.
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 Important Impurities
• Mercury
• Trace quantities of mercury may be present in some gases; levels reported vary from
0.01 to 180 μg/Nm3.
• Because mercury can damage the brazed aluminum heat exchangers used in cryogenic
applications, conservative design requires mercury removal to a level of 0.01 μg/Nm3

• Oxygen.
• Some gas-gathering systems operate below atmospheric pressure. As a result of leaking
pipelines, open valves, and other system compromises, oxygen is an important impurity
to monitor.
• A significant amount of corrosion in gas processing is related to oxygen.

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Natural Gas Processing
Certain processes have to be carried out.
1. Separation of liquid and gas. Liquid may be a hydrocarbon present
in the gas well along with the gas.
2. Dehydration. Water is corrosive and hydrates may form which will
plug the flow. Water will also reduce the calorific value of the gas.
3. Desulfurization. Presence of hydrogen sulfide is undesirable. The
gas is called sour. When the sulfur is removed the gas is
sweetened.
Processing
• Purification.
• Removal of materials, valuable or not, that inhibit the use of the gas as an
industrial or residential fuel
• Separation.
• Splitting out of components that have greater value as petrochemical
feedstocks, stand alone fuels (e.g., propane), or industrial gases (e.g., ethane,
helium)
• Liquefaction.
• Increase of the energy density of the gas for storage or transportation

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Separation of Natural gasoline from Wet
Gas
• Compression: Gas is compressed to 2400 kN/m2 , then cooled to 300 K where
heavy HC separated , Then gas is further cooled to 270-275 K where remaining
gasoline is separated.
• Absorption: Natural gasoline is absorbed by light gas oil flowing countercurrently.
Solvent is heated and passed to stripping column in which gasoline is removed
with steam.
• Adsorption: Gasoline is adsorbed on charcoal. Adsorbed HC are removed from
charcoal steam.
Natural Gas
Natural gas may be used as
Compressed Natural Gas (CNG).
“Natural” gas when made artificially it is called substitute, or synthetic or supple-
mental natural gas (SNG).
• It is used for production of H2 which is synthesis gas.
• It is used for production of NH3 fertilizer.
G E N E R I C R A W G A S A N D P R O D U C T S L AT E

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 Natural Gas
• Natural gas comprises of:
• Methane (major constituent)
• Ethane
• Propane
• Butane
• Pentane
• Nitrogen
• Carbon Dioxide
• Traces of other gases and sulphur compounds

• Natural gas is a high calorific value fuel

• It mixes with air readily and does not produce smoke
• It is lighter than air and disperses into air easily in case of leak
 Conventional natural gas generally occurs in deep reservoirs,
• Associated Gas
• Associated gas is produced with the oil and separated at the wellhead
• Gas produced in this fashion is also referred to as casing-head gas, oil well gas, or
dissolved gas.

• Non-associated gas
• Non-associated gas occurs in reservoirs that contain little or no crude oil
• It is sometimes referred to as gas-well gas or dry gas.

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Traditional natural gas
• Traditional natural gases, that is, associated and unassociated gas from
wells, vary substantially in composition
• Water is almost always present at wellhead conditions
• Unless the gas has been dehydrated before it reaches the gas
processing plant, the common practice is to assume the entering gas is
saturated with water at the plant inlet conditions.

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Natural Gases commonly are classified:

• According to Liquid Content

• Either lean or rich

• According to Sulfur Content

• Either sweet or sour

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 Liquid Content
• The more liquids in the gas, the “richer” the gas.
• To quantify the liquids content of a natural gas mixture, the industry uses GPM, or
gallons of liquids recoverable per 1,000 standard cubic feet of gas.
• Determination of the GPM requires knowledge of the gas composition on a mole
basis and the gallons of liquid per lb-mole.

• The rich and lean terms refer to the amount of recoverable hydrocarbons
present. The terms are relative, but a lean gas will usually be 1 GPM,
whereas a rich gas may contain 3 or more GPM

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Sulfur Content
Sweet and sour refer to the sulfur (generally H2S) content.
• A sweet gas contains negligible amounts of H2S
• A sour gas has unacceptable quantities of H2S, which result to odor and
corrosion.
• When present with water, H2S is corrosive. The corrosion products are iron
sulfides, FeSX, a fine black powder.

• Sweet Gas < 4 ppmv of H2S

• Allowable limit 4 – 16 ppmv of H2S

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 Compressed Natural Gas
Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) as an alternate fuel
for auto-motives in order to control environmental
degradation, reduce foreign exchange expenditure on
import of liquid fuel.
 Liquefied Natural Gas
Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is natural gas (predominantly
methane, CH4)that has been cooled down to liquid form
for ease and safety of non-pressurized storage or
transport..
 Liquefied Petroleum Gas
Mixture of two gases, Propane (C3 H8) & Butane
(C4H10) (60% Butane and 40% Propane)
Although they are normally used as gases, they are
stored and transported as liquids under pressure for
convenience and ease of handling
LPG Advantages
LPG has a higher calorific value than Natural Gas
In Pakistan, due to acute shortage of existing energy resources, exploring
alternate energy sources is high on the agenda of the Govt of Pakistan.
LPG is a clean, easily transportable fuel with multiple applications thereby
making it the ideal alternative to natural gas.
The combustion of LPG is smoother due to the higher octane content.
It is environmental friendly.
However it can be used in remote areas where ordinary gas supplies are
unavailable.
LPG Market has enormous potential for expansion.
 LPG - Hazards & Precautions
• LPG vapor is denser than air, consequently, the vapor may flow along the
ground and into drains sinking to the lowest level of the surroundings and be
ignited at a considerable distance from the source of leakage.
• Escape of even small quantities of the liquefied gas can give rise to
large volumes of vapor / air mixture and thus cause considerable
hazard.

• To aid in the detection of atmospheric leaks, all LPG’s are required to be

odorized.
• There should be adequate ground level ventilation where LPG is stored.
• LPG cylinders should not be stored in basements, which have no
ventilation at ground level.
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 LPG- Hazards and Precautions
Besides Fire & Explosion there are two main hazards of LPG.
Very High concentration mixed with air will cause person to suffocate.
LPG can cause severe burns to the skin due to rapid vaporization.
Vaporization can also cool equipment to the extant that it may become
cold enough to cause cold burn.
• LPG is highly dangerous. LPG should be treated with this respect and
keep away from children.
• Two big disadvantages of LPG are safety and cost.

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 LPG Use in Developing
14000
Countries LPG CONSUMPTION IN 1999
250

(Top 20 Developing Country Consumers)

12000

200

1000 t

Per-Capita Consumption (kg/capita)

10000
Total Consumption (1000 t)

kg per capita
150
8000

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Source: Annual Statistical Review of LP Gas, LP Gas Association, Paris.

 Manufactured fuel gases
Manufactured fuel gases are those produced through
an artificial process, usually gasification Process.
COAL GAS
• Coal gas, gaseous mixture- mainly hydrogen, methane, and carbon
monoxide formed by the destructive distillation of bituminous coal
and used as a fuel.
• Sometimes steam is added to react with the hot coke, and thus
increasing the yield of gas.
BIOGAS

• Biogas is produced by anaerobic digestion with anaerobic bacteria or

fermentation of biodegradable materials such as manure, sewage,
municipal, waste, green waste, plant material and crops.
• It consists of methane, carbon dioxide, hydrogen, hydrogen sulfide and
moisture.
• Used for heating, electricity and many other operations that use a internal
combustion engine.
Water Gas
• It is a mixture of combustible
gas, CO and hydrogen with
little non combustible gases
like Carbon dioxide and
nitrogen.
 WATER GAS APPLICATION

• Used as a source of hydrogen gas.

• As a fuel gas.
• In the manufacture of methanol and synthetic petrol.
• As reducing agent.
Synthesis Gas
• Syngas, or synthesis gas, is a fuel gas mixture consisting primarily of
Water gas (a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen) and very
often some carbon dioxide.
• Production methods include:
• Steam reforming of natural gas or liquid hydrocarbons to produce hydrogen
• The gasification of coal or biomass
• Waste-to-energy gasification

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Syngas Production

QA 43
Producer Gas

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The calorific value of producer gas is low as compaed to
other gaseous fuels.
The low calorific value is due to the presence of large
excess of non combustible gases like nitrogen and carbon
dioxide.
Blast Furnace Gas
• Blast furnace gas (BFG) is a by-product of blast furnaces that is
generated when the iron ore is reduced with coke to metallic iron.
• It consists of:
• Nitrogen (50-60%)
• Carbon dioxide (18-20%)
• Methane(20 %)
• Hydrogen (4%)
• Oxygen
• Carbon monoxide

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Coke Oven Gas
• Coke gas is created by high-temperature decomposition of
coking coals in the absence of oxygen.
• The gas mainly consists of hydrogen (50-60%), methane (25-
30%) and a small percentage of carbon monoxide, carbon and
nitrogen.

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Town gas (Coal Gas)
 The original source of the gas which was distributed to towns and cities
by supply utilities was from the gasification of coal.
 The gas was produced by heating the raw coal in the absence of air to
drive off the volatile products.
 This was essentially a two-stage process, with the carbon in the coal
being initially oxidized to carbon dioxide, followed by a reduction to
carbon monoxide C + O2 → CO2
CO2 + C → 2CO

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Town Gas
 A typical town gas produced by this process has the following
properties:
Composition (% vol)
(H2 48%, CO 5%, CH4 34%, CO2 13%)

Density (kg/m3) 0.6

Gross calorific value (MJ/m3) 20.2
Advantages of Gaseous Fuels
Gaseous fuels due to ease and flexibility of their applications
possess the following advantages over solid or liquid fuels:
1. Clean gas can be distributed over a wide area.
2. Greater control of variation in demand, conditions of combustion and nature of flame.
3. Complete combustion with no smoke.
4. They can be conveyed easily through pipelines to the actual place of need, thereby
eliminating manual labor in transportation.
5. They can be ignited easily.
6. They are free from ash found in solid and liquid fuels.
7. They can be pre-heated by the heat of hot waste gases, thereby affecting economy in
heat.
8. Their combustion can readily be controlled for change in demand e.g length of flame.
9. Can also be used in internal combustion engine fuels
10. Burn in slight excess of air supply for complete combustion.
11. Carbon dioxide production is 30 to 40% less in case of natural gas as compared to oil
and coal
12. Nitrogen Oxides production is 20% less in case of natural gas as compared to oil and
coal
13. Particulate formation is significantly less in gas
Disadvantages of Gaseous Fuels
Gaseous fuels also has some disadvantages over liquid and
solid fuels
1. Difficulty in storing.
2. Power produced with gaseous fuels is less when compared to
solid and liquid fuels.
3. Due to its high specific volume, gaseous fuel containers are much
larger than those for liquid fuels.
4. Very large storage tanks are needed.
5. Highly inflammable, so chances of fire hazards are high when
used.
 Gas in Pakistan
It is found in Sui, Attock and Kandhkot.
Reserve in Pakistan 8402 billion cubic meters
Used a raw material for fertilizer industry
Natural gas in pakistan
• First ever reserves of natural gas was discovered in 1952 in Sui
District, Balochistan Province.
• Major portion of the primary energy supplies of Pakistan.
• Contributed greatly to the economic development and improved the
industrial output substantially.
• With increased demand, natural gas supply has become a serious
challenge in Pakistan.
• Demand in the transport sector increased over the years because of
high efficiency of this fuel.
• Highest number of vehicles running on CNG until December 2008.
 The World picture of Natural Gas
Major gas producing countries:

• Russia • Nigeria
• Iran • Algeria
• Qatar • Venezuela
• Saudi Arabia • Iraq
• United Arab Emirates
• United States

Six countries possess two thirds of the world’s gas

reserves, with almost half of the reserves located in Iran
and Russia
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M A J O R P R O V E N N AT U R A L G A S R E S E R V E S B Y C O U N T R Y. T O TA L
P R O V E N R E S E R V E S E S T I M AT E D T O B E 6 , 0 4 0 T C F

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