Natural Gas Quality: Hydrocarbon Liquid Drop Out and

Natural Gas: Achieving

Interchangeability a Balanced
– An Update Energy Future
on NGC+ Efforts
Terry Boss – Interstate Natural Gas Association of America
Gas Quality Discussions

„ Impurities
„ Liquid Hydrocarbon Dropout
9 Transmission Pipeline
9 Distribution Pipeline
9 End Use Equipment
„ Interchangeability
9 Combustion
9 Feedstock
Natural Gas Council Plus (NGC+) Strategy

„ Develop a common understanding of the technical issues

9 Hydrocarbon Liquid Dropout
9 Interchangeability
„ Develop consensus policy recommendations for:
9 Industry Segments
9 Standard setting organizations
9 FERC
9 Research organizations
Hydrocarbon Liquid Extraction Economics

„ Natural gas pricing relative to natural gas liquids

„ When thermal value is greater than product value
some producers may opt to reduce or cease
processing
„ Historically
9 1996
9 2001
9 2002 to 2003
Impacts of Hydrocarbon Liquid Extraction Reduction

„ Reduced processing
„ Potential for liquids to drop out in pipeline system
„ Potential for adverse impacts on end use
9 Impacts on Performance
9 Impacts on Reliability and Availability
9 Impacts on Emissions
9 Appliance Flame Extinguishing and Over Firing
9 Damage to Gas Turbines
Hydrocarbon Liquid Dropout Management Issues

„ Major supply sources have gas conditioning plants operated by

majors, independents and affiliates
„ Minor supply sources may not have gas conditioning plants
„ Pipelines don’t own the gas or nominate flows
„ Blending of gas streams is a result of gas nominations
„ Price differential between liquids and gas determines economic
incentive to condition gas
„ Differing customer requirements
Stakeholders - Technical Work Group

„ Producers
„ Processors
„ Pipelines
„ LDCs
„ Direct Connect Customers
„ Gas Consumers
Key Observations

„ Nature of Supply Has Changed

9 Existing Basins on Decline
9 New Basins on the Rise
„ Pipelines Ability to Manage Incidental Liquids Varies
9 Dry System Design v. Design for Separation
9 Removal of Drips, Separators, and Filtration
„ Nature of End Use Has Changed
9 Not Just Challenge of Handling Liquids
9 More Stringent Emissions Requirements
9 Drive for Efficiency and Cost Reduction
What Is Thermodynamics?

„ The study of the laws that govern the

conversion of energy
„ Gas properties are governed by:
9 Temperature
9 Pressure
Why is Thermodynamics Important?

„ Gas properties are mathematically

represented by Equations of State
9 Souve Redlich Kwong (SRK)
9 Peng Robinson
Phase Diagram - Gas / Liquid Behavior
1800

1600

1400

1200 Single Phase -

Gas Only

1000 Two Phase -

Gas and Liquid
800

600
Cricondentherm

400

200

0
-250 -200 -150 -100 -50 0 50 100
Temp (F)
Impact of Pressure Reduction
on Flowing Unprocessed Gas
1800

1600

1400

1200
Station
Discharge
1000 110 F, 900 #

800

Reduce Pressure
600 400 #

Temperature Lowers
400 By 35 F
to 75 F Liquids Begin
200 To Drop Out

0
-250 -200 -150 -100 -50 0 50 100
Temp (F)
Comparative Phase Diagrams
1800

1600

Two Phase
1400
Cricondentherm =
76.6 F
1200
Cricondentherm =
5.6 F Processed Gas
1000 Unprocessed
Cricondentherm =
Two Phase LNG
-56.7 F
800

Two Phase
600

400

200

0
-250 -200 -150 -100 -50 0 50 100
Temp (F)
As Liquids Drop Out
Phase Diagram Changes -
Shape Approaches Processed Gas
1800

1600

1400

1200

Processed
1000
Unprocessed

800

600

400

200

0
-250 -200 -150 -100 -50 0 50 100
Temp (F)
Pipelines Ability to Manage
Incidental Liquids Varies

„ Dry System Design v. Design for Separation

9 Not an issue of old v. new
„ Removal of Drips, Separators, and Filtration
9 Safety and operational drivers
Pipeline Temperature Profiling

„ Compressor Station Discharge

9 Typically 100 to 110 F (Max 120 F)
„ 40 to 80 Miles Between Stations
„ In Coldest Climates
9 Downstream Temperature > 35 F
Impact of Pressure Reduction
on Flowing Pipeline Gas
With Delivery to LDC
1200

1000 Flowing Gas

Temperature
35 F

800

600
Deliveries
To LDCs
500 # or <
400

Applying the Line

Representing
200 7 F per 100 #

0
-250 -200 -150 -100 -50 0 50
Temp (F)
Impact of Pressure Reduction
on Power Plant Deliveries
1200

1000 Flowing Gas

Temperature
35 F

800

Deliveries High Pressure

To Power Plant Deliveries
600
At 600 # Typically
Have
Preheat
400
Liquids Drop Out
Applying the Line
Representing
200 7 F per 100 #

0
-250 -200 -150 -100 -50 0 50
Temp (F)
Gaps To Close

„ Historical Characterization Data

„ Today v. 1990
Control Measures

„ Blending
9 Physical - Incidental - Not within Control of Pipeline
9 Contractual - Within the Control of Shippers
„ Heating
9 Heat of Compression
9 Installation of Heaters
„ Control Specification in Tariff
9 Ensures That Processing Occurs
Determination of Liquid Drop Out Potential

„ Direct
9 Measurement
9 Chilled Mirror
9 At Actual Pressure and Temperature
„ Indirect
9 Calculation
9 Use of Equations of State
Control Specifications

„ Cricondentherm HDP
„ or
„ C6+ Gallons per Million Cubic Feet
„ Did Not View Direct Measurement as Broadly
Applicable
Control Specifications

„ Eleven Operators Have Hydrocarbon Dew Point Specifications

9 Southern Star
9 Texas Gas
9 Northwest
9 Kern River
9 Northern Border
9 PG&E
9 EPNG
9 Wyoming Interstate
9 Colorado Interstate
9 Maritimes and Northeast
9 TransCanada
„ Three Others Have Proposed Cricondentherm Specifications
9 Tennessee
9 ANR
9 Columbia Gulf
Gas Interchangeability Issues

„ Gas Supply is changing

9 Domestic
9 Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG)
9 Market is changing
9 Electric Generation
9 Environmental Requirements
„ Shippers determine gas flows and sources
„ Gas Interchangeability has been identified as an impediment to
the introduction of LNG
„ Interstate vs. Intrastate
 LNG Properties

Historical LNG Cargoes1 Majority of Future Cargoes to Lake

Charles Terminal2

Trinidad Algeria Oman Minimum Maximum

HHV (BTU/scf) 1048 1103 1168 1045 1064

Interchangeability Index
1380 1406 1444 1379 1390
(Wobbe)

HDP (oF) -94.6 -49.7 +3.68 -88.4 -87.2

Composition

Methane (C1) 96.13% 89.57% 86.52% 96.18% 93.48%

Ethane (C2) 3.40% 8.61% 8.31% 3.38% 6.47%

Propane (C3) 0.39% 1.18% 3.32% 0.29% 0.03%

Iso-Butane (i-C4) 0.04% 0.13% 0.85% 0.03% –

n-Butane (n-C4) 0.03% 0.18% 0.85% 0.03% –

Iso-Pentane (i-C5) – 0.01% 0.06% – –

n-Pentane (n-C5) – – – – –

Hexane (C6) – – – – –

Nitrogen (N2) 0.01% 0.32% 0.09% 0.09% 0.02%

1 Source: GTI - Gas Interchangeability Tests, April 2003

2 Represents a large percentage of future LNG imports from BG LNG Services starting in 2005
LNG contains no impurities - H2S, O2, CO2 or H2O
New Industrial Burner Design uses Premixed Air
Staged Design

Pictures and Diagrams courtesy John Zink Co. LLC

NGC+ Interchangeability Technical Strategy

„ Identify end use interchangeability parameters by segment

9 Type
9 Ranges
„ Identify the diversity of the present and future gas supply
9 Domestic
9 LNG
„ Define “regular” natural gas (80-99+% of Market)
9 Parameters
9 Conditioning techniques
„ Identify end use conditioning techniques to create “premium” natural gas
for the rest of the market (0-20%)
Interchangeability Discussion Progress

„ NAESB issued information posting guidelines

„ Preliminary chapters drafted for technical white paper
9 Drafting Meetings 10/6-7; 10/19
9 Key Meeting 12/07
9 Final Draft Due 12/10
„ R&D and Technical solutions meeting 11/09
„ Policy discussions just beginning with preliminary
recommendations due 12/15/2004 (Meeting with FERC)
Example NAESB Gas Quality Parameters Posting

Courtesy Florida Gas Transmission

Draft Executive Summary
Preliminary Interchangeability Technical Information

„ End Use equipment can be calibrated to match a particular gas supply

9 Wide overall range
9 Tighter operating range
9 Portability and setup of “White Goods”
„ Regional differences already exist because of legacy issues
„ Feedstock Equipment is designed for a particular gas supply (inc. LNG peak shaving)
„ Rate of change in gas supply is important
9 Burner design flexibility
9 Automatic air /fuel ratio controls
9 Manual burner adjustment
9 Burner change out
„ High efficiency combined cycle turbines appear to be most sensitive to gas
composition changes
9 NOx exhaust emissions
9 Combustion Stability (vibration, flame out)
„ There is a lack of verifiable technical information
Example Test Gases for Emission Performance

Courtesy SoCal
Example Emission Performance

Courtesy SoCal
Thank You

„ Information Source
9 www.ingaa.org
9 Special Projects
{ Liquid Hydrocarbon Dropout
{ Interchangeability

„ Questions