Introduction to Natural Gas

Engineering

EE054-3-3
Gas Engineering
 Outline
• Development of natural gas

• Concept of gas flaring

• Field handling of natural gas

• Overview of natural gas processing

• Gas Contract Term

• Types of natural gas accumulations

– Conventional natural gas
– Gas in tight sands
– Gas in tight shales
– Coalbed methane (CBM)
– Gas hydrates

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 Development of Natural Gas
• Natural gas, which was once an almost embarrassing and unwanted
by-product, now provides about one-fifth of all the world’s primary
energy requirements.

• Natural gas is defined as gas obtained from a natural underground

reservoir. It generally contains a large quantity of Methane, along
with heavier hydrocarbons such as Ethane, Propane, Butane,
Pentane, etc.

• It also often contains a considerable amount of non-hydrocarbons,

such as N2, H2S and CO2. It is also generally saturated with water.

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 Volume of Gas is presented as
Standard Cubic Feet (SCF)

1000 SCF (1 MSCF) of Natural Gas is equivalent to:

 58 kg of Wood
 52 kg of Coal
 28 liters of Kerosene
 0.168 barrel of Crude Oil (petroleum)
 285 kwh of Electricity
 0.024 ton of Furnace Oil
 21 kg of LPG

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 Natural gas coming out of the ground
in Taiwan

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 • Natural gas is considered to be naturally occurring mixture of:
– Hydrocarbons (C1, C2, C3, …..Cn)
– Non-hydrocarbons (H2S, CO2, N2, H2O, etc)

• Natural Gas as supplied by the Oil & Gas companies usually:

– Contain 80 to 95% CH4 , with C2H6 , C3H8 , N2 , etc.
– Heating or calorific value ranging from 900 to 1200 Btu/SCF
– Specific gravity varying from 0.58 to 0.79

• Natural gas is a desirable fuel because:

– Natural gas is cleaner – it burns without smoke or noxious combustion
products
– The burner system is simple, cheap, and easy to maintain
– Natural gas has higher hydrogen-to-carbon (H : C) ratio than fuel oil or coal,
resulting in 30% less carbon emission than oil and 50% than coal for the
same energy yield

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 • In petroleum production, gas is often burnt as flare gas.
The World Bank estimates that over 150 cubic kilometers of
natural gas are flared or vented annually.

• Before natural gas can be used as a fuel, most, but not all, must
be processed to remove impurities, including water, to meet the
specifications of marketable natural gas. 

• Flares are important safety devices used in refineries and

petrochemical facilities. They safely burn excess hydrocarbon
gases which cannot be recovered or recycled. Excess
hydrocarbon gases are burnt in the flare systems in an
environmentally-sound manner, as an alternative to releasing the
vapour directly into the atmosphere.
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 • During flaring, excess gases are combined with steam and/or
air, and burnt off in the flare system to produce water vapour
and carbon dioxide.

• The process of burning these excess gases is similar to the

burning of liquefied petroleum gases (LPG), which some of us
use as fuel for home cooking.

• Flare stacks are often used for burning off flammable gas
released by pressure relief valves during unplanned over-
pressuring of plant equipment.

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 • This often takes place during start-ups and shutdowns in
production when the volume of gas being extracted can be
uncertain. 

• In this respect flare stacks provide a critical means by which to

ensure safety – the alternative to allowing the gas to escape
would be a significant build-up of pressure and the risk of
explosion.

• It is not always the case that gas is flared for safety reasons. 
When crude oil is extracted and produced from onshore or
offshore oil wells, raw natural gas also comes to the surface.
In areas of the world lacking pipelines and other gas
transportation infrastructure, this gas is commonly flared.
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 Natural Gas Extractions by Countries
(2013)

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 • According to the International Energy Agency, the top 10
natural gas producers in 2013 were (in billion cubic meters):
– United States 689 (19.8%)
– Russia 671 (19.3%)
– Iran 255 (5.86%)
– Qatar 161 (4.6%)
– Canada 155 (4.5%)
– China 115 (3.3%)
– Norway 109 (3.1%)
– Netherlands 86 (2.5%)
– Saudi Arabia 84 (2.4%)
– Algeria 80 (2.3%)

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 Field Handling of Natural Gas
• Associated Gas: Also known as dissolved gas. Natural gas
produced in association with crude oil (oil wells):
• Typically low pressure
• Saturated with water vapor
• Normally rich in C3 – C5 (can be recovered as LPG)
• Often contaminated with H2S and CO2

• Non-associated Gas: Also known as free gas. Produced

independently from a gas reservoir. Natural gas produced
from dedicated gas wells:
– Much higher pressure (typically several thousands psi)
– Less water vapor and NGL in solution
– Less severe processing

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 Natural Gas Processing

• If H2S and SO2

consists in natural
gas, gas
processing is
necessary.

• A natural gas
processing plant
will remove all the
acid gas
compounds, H2S,
CO2 and water.
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 • Gas is sold for commercial use.

• The gas that is sold is not specified by chemical composition,

but rather by a series of specific properties such as:
– Heating value, btu content (the amount of heat released
during the combustion of a specified amount)
– Delivery pressure, psia
– Delivery temperature, F
– H2S content, mole%
– CO2 content,mole%
– Water content, lbm/MMSCF
– Cleanliness (within allowable solid concentration)

• These are also known as Contract Term.

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 Btu Content

• A British thermal unit (Btu) is a measure of the heat content of

fuels or energy sources. It is the quantity of heat required to
raise the temperature of one pound of liquid water by 1
degree Fahrenheit at the temperature that water has its
greatest density (approximately 39 degrees Fahrenheit).

• The measure of the heating value of natural gas that is free of

moisture. Contractually natural gas may be defined as "dry" if
it <7 lbm water vapor/1000 Mcf.

• This standard of measurement reflects the conditions under

which natural gas is usually delivered into the pipeline system.

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 Water Content

• The actual measure of water

vapor in the gas stream. If the
content is too high (in excess of
seven pounds per Mcf),
dehydration may be required to
remove the vapor prior to the
gas being accepted into a
pipeline's system.
• Water vapor removal is
accomplished by passing the
gas stream through glycol
solution separators.

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 CO2

• A naturally occurring compound in gas reservoirs. Its

presence diminishes the Btu value of a gas stream. If found in
too high quantities (>2-3%), extraction using membrane may
be required before transport on a pipeline.

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 H2S

• Measured in grains per million. This is a poisonous, corrosive

gas that must be chemically treated and removed if found
more than four parts per million. Natural gas may be "sweet"
and "sour". 

• Sweet gas has no measurable H2S that affects its

merchantability. 

• Sour gas has high enough levels of H2S that it requires

treating with amine treatment, or commingling with sweet
gas to dilute the measurable level of H2S. The result is levels
of H2S that are acceptable to pipeline systems.

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 Types of Natural Gas
Accumulations

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 Two Types of Gas Resources

• Conventional:
Typically “free gas” trapped
in multiple, relatively small,
porous zones in various
naturally occurring rock
formations such as
carbonates, sandstones and
siltstones.
• Unconventional:
Gas that is more difficult or
less economical to extract,
usually because the
technology to reach it has
not been developed fully, or
is too expensive.
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 Gas in Tight Sands
• “Tight gas” is the term commonly used to refer to:
– Low permeability reservoirs that produce mainly dry natural gas.
– Gas trapped in very tight, unusually impermeable hard rock, and
non-porous sandstone or carbonates.
– Tight sand reservoirs are generally defined as having <0.1mD matrix
permeability and <10% matrix porosity.

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 • While conventional gas formations tend to be found in the
younger Tertiary basins, tight gas formations are much older.
Deposited some 248 million years ago, tight gas formations
are typically found in Palaeozoic formations.

• Over time, the rock formations have been compacted and

have undergone cementation and recrystallisation, which all
reduce the level of permeability in the rock.

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 Developing Tight Gas
• Tight gas requires more effort to pull it from the ground because of the
extremely tight formation in which it is located. The pores in the rock
formation in which the gas is trapped are either irregularly distributed
or badly connected with overly narrow capillaries, lessening
permeability.

• Massive hydraulic fracturing is necessary to produce the well at

economic rates. Many of the low permeability reservoirs that have
been developed in the past are sandstones, but significant quantities
of gas are also produced from low permeability carbonates, shales
and coal seams. Additionally, acidizing the well is employed to
improve permeability and production rates of tight gas formations

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 Illustration of tight gas compared to other types of gas deposits
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 Major U.S Tight Gas Sands Basins

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 Environmental Concern
• The environmental concerns surrounding drilling for tight gas are
similar to those that surround shale gas drilling. This is largely due to
concerns involving the fracking process:
– Water Source: Drilling and fracturing these wells requires a large amount of
water. In some areas, significant water use for shale gas could affect the
availability of water for other uses or affect aquatic habitats.
– Waste Water: In addition, drilling and fracturing produces large amounts of
waste water that may contain contaminants. This results in the water requiring
treatment before disposal or reuse. How waste water should be treated and
disposed is a complex issue.
– Chemical Leakage: Hydraulic fracking fluid can be a contaminant if not
managed properly as spills or leaks could occur. The chemicals in the fracking
fluid can be dangerous, and any release of the fluid could result in
contamination of groundwater for drinking or habitats for wildlife.
Environmental concerns in regards to acidization are also prominent. The use
of hydrofluoric acid to release tight gas in these reserves is potentially an
issue simply because the substance is so dangerous. A spill or a leak could
harm workers and pollute groundwater for residential uses
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 Gas in Tight Shales

• Geologically, gas shale are fine grained, organic-rich,

sedimentary rock formations that trap natural gas. Gas shale
rock has characteristically small pores that are relatively
impermeable to natural gas flow unless they are naturally or
artificially fractured to create channels connecting the pores.

• Shales that host economic quantities of gas are rich in organic

material (0.5% to 25%), and are usually mature
petroleum source rocks. Unlike conventional gas, which resides
in highly porous and permeable reservoirs and can be easily
tapped by standard vertical wells, shale gas remains trapped in
its original source rock, the organic-rich shale that formed from
the sedimentary deposition of mud, silt, clay, and organic matter
on the floors of shallow seas.
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 Developing Tight Shales

• Some of the gas produced is held in natural fractures, some in

pore spaces, and some is adsorbed onto the organic material.
The gas in the fractures is produced immediately; the gas
adsorbed onto organic material is released as the formation
pressure is drawn down by the well.

• The development of hydraulic fracturing technology has also

improved access to shale gas deposits. This process requires
injecting large volumes of water mixed with sand and fluid
chemicals into the well at high pressure to fracture the rock,
increasing permeability and production rates.

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 Environmental Concern

• Gas Emissions: Carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4)

emissions, particularly the potential for increased fugitive
CH4 emissions during drilling compared with drilling for
conventional gas
• Waste Water & Disposal: The volumes of water and the
chemicals used in fracking and their subsequent disposal
• Groundwater Contamination: The possible risk of
contaminating groundwater
• Ground Movement: the physical effects of fracking in the
form of increased seismic activity

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 Coalbed Methane
• Natural gas is often collocated with petroleum, but it can also be
found trapped within coal deposits. Many coal seams also
contain natural gas, either within the seam itself or the
surrounding rock. CBM is formed during the process of
coalification, the transformation of plant material into coal.

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 • Coalbed methane is distinct from a typical sandstone or other
conventional gas reservoir, as the methane is stored within the
coal by a process called adsorption.

• The methane is in a near-liquid state, lining the inside of pores

within the coal (called the matrix). The open fractures in the coal
(called the cleats) can also contain free gas or can be saturated
with water.

• The presence of this gas is well known from its occurrence in

underground coal mining, where it presents a serious safety risk.
Unlike much natural gas from conventional reservoirs, coalbed
methane contains very little heavier hydrocarbons such
as propane or butane, and no natural-gas condensate. It often
contains up to a few percent carbon dioxide.
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 CBM Extraction

• Gas production occurs when water is removed from the coal

seam. This lowers the pressure in the seam, causing gas to
removed from the surface of the coal and produce to the well.

• The objective is to avoid putting methane into the water line, but
allow it to flow up the backside of the well (casing) to the
compressor station. If the water level is pumped too low during
dewatering, methane may travel up the tubing into the water line
causing the well to become "gassy".
• Although methane may be recovered in a water-gas separator at
the surface, pumping water and gas is inefficient and can cause
pump wear and breakdown. Methane is then compressed and
piped to market.

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 Environmental Concern
• Density of Wells: To obtain the maximum recovery of CBM a
company may want to drill wells at a higher density. The density
requested will depend on the specific geological conditions.
• Dewatering of Coal Seams: The dewatering of coal seams is often
necessary prior to the production of CBM. The quantity and quality of
water varies from one coal formation to another. The quantity of
water depends on the cleat volume and the permeability of the coal
seams.
• Venting/Flaring: During the early part of the dewatering phase in
CBM wells, only a small volume of gas will be produced. Companies
may vent or flare it and defer the cost of the equipment required to
capture and compress the gas until the volumes reach an economic
threshold. The release of gas or its incomplete combustion causes
air pollution. The light and noise from flares may also be disruptive if
they are close to a residence, livestock or wildlife.
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 • Gas Migration into Underground Aquifers: Methane sometimes
naturally migrates from gas reservoirs into aquifers, but this process
can also occur as a result of incomplete casing on wells. Methane
in groundwater can then flow to the surface and be released to the
air via residential or agricultural groundwater wells or it may travel
with the groundwater to the place where the water naturally
outcrops at the surface or the bottom of a lake or river. The
methane in groundwater can be a nuisance to groundwater users
as it can interrupt the flow and pressure of water, and can be an
explosion hazard if it is allowed to concentrate inside an enclosed
structure or home.
• Ground Movement: the physical effects of fracking in the form of
increased seismic activity

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 Gas Hydrates
• Gas hydrate is a solid ice-like form of water that contains gas
molecules in its molecular cavities. In nature, this gas is mostly
methane.

• It is known to occur on every continent; and it exists in huge

quantities in marine sediments in a layer several hundred meters
thick directly below the sea floor and in association with permafrost in
the Arctic. It is not stable at normal sea-level pressures and
temperatures, which is the primary reason that it is a challenge to
study.

• Gas hydrates are found in sub-oceanic sediments in the polar

regions (shallow water) and in continental slope sediments (deep
water), where pressure and temperature conditions combine to make
it stable.
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 Methane in the ocean is produced by microbes within the sea floor
that break down organic matter that sinks down from the sunlit zone
near the surface. 

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 Gas Hydrates Extraction

• Methane hydrate deposits within national territorial waters represent a

promising source of energy for the future, especially for countries that
depend on imports of gas, coal and oil for a large share of their energy
needs.
• But the necessary technology for industrial production of the hydrates
is not yet available. Following successful test wells on land, initial
research projects are now being carried out in the ocean, particularly
in South-East Asia.
• For more than 10 years international projects have been studying
whether and how methane hydrate might be produced in the future.
Scientists must first determine whether it is at all possible to release
methane from the hydrates in large amounts and, if so, which methods
would be most practical.

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 • The production of methane hydrate is fundamentally different
from the extraction of oil and natural gas. These conventional
fuels flow naturally through the pores of the reservoirs to the well.
Hydrates, on the other hand, are solid, and must first be
dissociated before the methane gas can be extracted.

• Three different procedures are being considered for the recovery

of methane:
– Hot Water Circulation
– Depressurization
– CO2 Injection

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 Hot Water Circulation

• Hot water is pumped into the methane hydrate deposits

through a well, raising the temperature to the point that the
hydrate breaks down and methane is released.

• In this method, hot water heated up to 80℃ was fed into test
wells to heat methane hydrate layers existing approximately
1,100 m below ground so that methane hydrate can be
dissociated. The temperature of hot water was estimated to
be around 50℃ when it came near the methane hydrate
layers.

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 Depressurization
• High pressures prevail in the methane hydrate layers because
of overlying water and sediment loads. Drilling into the
deposits from above releases pressure like puncturing the
inner tube of a bicycle tyre. With the drop in pressure the
hydrate slowly dissociates and the methane is released.

 Methane hydrate looks like a

piece of ice when it is brought up
from the sea floor. This lump was
retrieved during an expedition to
the “hydrate ridge” off the coast
of Oregon in the US.
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 CO2 Injection

• Methane is released from hydrates when they are infused with a

gas. Carbon dioxide displaces the methane in the clathrate,
replacing it in the molecular cage.
• One result of this is a stronger bond of the water molecule with
carbon dioxide than it had with the methane. The carbon dioxide
hydrate is thus significantly more stable than the methane
hydrate.
• Researchers suggest that the carbon dioxide needed for
injection could be obtained from the exhausts emitted by gas
and coal power plants. Thus the carbon dioxide would not be
released into the atmosphere, but transported in liquid form by
ship or pipeline to the deposit and sequestered in the hydrates.

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 China has become the
first country in the world
that can produce steady
gas continuously.

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 Environmental Concern

• Ocean Acidification: Methane emissions also contribute to

lower pH levels in the world's oceans.

• Greenhouse Effect: The methane, a potent greenhouse gas,

would escape unused into the atmosphere and could even
accelerate climate change.

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 END OF LESSON

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