- A mixture of HC compounds & small quantities of various non HC (eg. N2 & CO2) existing in the gaseous phase or in solution with oil in natural underground reservoirs at reservoir conditions - Natural gas is so called because it occurs naturally - Formed from sediments rich in organic matter which in the past have been treated to high T & P - Found undergrd structures similar to crude oil - May or may not be associated wt accumulation of oil - Virtually all oil accumulation have nat. gas associated wt them but many gas accumulation exist independently of oil accumulation Composition and Terminology - NG consists of varying proportions of HC of paraffin series wt CH4 predominating - Dry gas – little or no pentane & heavier fractions (C5+) present - Wet gas – significant amt of C5+ present - Other component : CO2, N2, H2S, He,Ar, Hg, H2O, solid particles etc present - Condensate/natural gasoline - C5+ fractions liquid phase at atmos. T & P - NGL – ethane, propane and butanes - LNG – natural gas mainly methane liquefied by cooling to minus 161.5oC at atm. Pressure - LPG – mixture in either liq or gas phase of propane n butane Exploration Oil & gas accumulate undergrd if the following geological conditions are met: - presence of reservoir rock containing interconnected pores eg. Sands and sandstones or limestones - presence of ‘cap rock’ eg. Clays, anydrite, salt or shales - presence of a trap ie. Geometrical configuration of rocks and seal that prevents lateral escape Exploration methods 1. Gravimetric - Measuring slight variations in force of gravity at surface influenced in magnitude & direction by distribution of rock of diff density underlying the area - Gravity surveys carried out by air n particularly useful for locating salt structures 2. Magnetic - Measuring variations in intensity of earth’s magnetic field - Method give indication of presence n thickness of sedimentary formation since sedimentary rocks are non magnetic while igneous & metamorphic rocks are magnetic 3. Seismic - Most important & expensive - Works on principle of low frequency sound waves generated from sources on or just below the land or water surface being reflected & refracted as they pass thru rock layers & measuring time taken for sound waves to travel back to surface - Returning sound waves pick by geophones on land surface or hydrophones in water converted to electric signals & stored on magnetic tape for digital computer processing - Despite all the latest tech. available, only way to confirm whether structure contain oil or gas is to drill a well - In addition, drilling provides more information on further exploration and future field development plan Drilling - Techniques same whether on land or sea - Penetration of subsurface achieved by a steel, tungsten carbide or diamond bit attached to screw-jointed pipes, rotated at surface Objective of gas processing - To remove any impurities present - To extract valuable component of natural gas (C3H8 n C4H10) - To ensure customer’s specification for quality gas are met • Schematic LNG plant: main components Gas receiving & metering - Feed gas regulated at satisfactory P for later removal of HC which otherwise cause problems in downstream processes - For high P gas - P let down station installed - For low P gas – compressors used - Metering gas quantity supplied to plant necessary if gas supplier(s) is ≠ owner of the plant which is often the case Acid Gas Removal (Sulfinol Unit) - CO2, H2S & other sulphur compounds are removed to acceptable levels to avoid freezing out in liquefaction unit - CO2 : 50 ppm by volume - Sulphur compounds < 3 ppm - Involved a solvent which absorbs the impurities & releases them in a regenerator - If sufficient H2S present, a sulphur recovery unit installed to convert sulphur compounds into elemental sulphur, a saleable prodt Mercury Removal - Allowable limit: 0.1 μg/Nm3 - Reason: to prevent corrosion of pipework and equipment made of aluminium or alloys - Achieved by passing feed gas thru sulphur impregnated carbon, whereby Hg reacts (chemisorption) wt sulphur to form stable mercuric sulphide or adsorption onto macroporous alumina - Adsorbents not regenerable, disposal of spent chemical which contain certain %tage Hg has to be controlled for safety and environmental reasons Dehydration - Treated sweet gas leaving acid gas removal unit is saturated wt water since solvents are aqueous solution - Bef. Cooling below 0oC, gas must be dried to avoid icing up in downstream process - Done in 2 stages - 1st: water condensed n separated from gas stream by cooling - 2nd: balance water vapour removed by adsorption on molecular sieves - Acceptable limit: < 1 ppm - Usu. 3 driers required: 1st drier in service 2nd drier being regenerated by heated stream of dry gas 3rd on standby Heavy Hydrocarbon separation - Design of units depends on: a. quantities of CH4 n other heavier HC present in NG b. the need to extract heavy HC that can freeze out in liquefaction unit c. the need to meet LNG specs as agreed by customers - Achieved usg cryogenic scrubbing involved cooling NG against boiling C3 down to abt -30oC - liq. mixture goes to fractionation unit - Stripped NG to liquefaction for further cooling Fractionation - Involved a series of DCs: de-methanizer, de- ethanizer, de-propanizer, de-butanizer - Each stripping out one component from its top end - Bottom stream of each column fed to the next so that fr last column flows pentanes & heavier HCs known as gasoline or NGL - Streams of C2, C3 and C4 from tops of columns are either reinjected into liquefaction unit Liquefaction - 3 main processes: a. pure refrigerant cascade process b. mixed refrigerant process c. combination of both ie. the pre-cooled mixed refrigerant process - Operates similar to refrigerator at home Storage & loading facilities - NG is stored in liquefied form above ground or in-ground tanks