Fuel Technology-Ι

(ENT-332)
 Gaseous Fuel
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 most important.
These gases have high calorific value. The classification of gaseous
fuel does not solely depend on the calorific value of gas. Both the
calorific value (CV) and specific gravity (Sp. gr.) of a gaseous fuel
determine the thermal output of a heating appliance. These two
factors are combined to give a dimensional group, called Wobbe
number or Wobbe index which is;
 Gaseous Fuel
Flame speed of a gaseous fuel is also an important parameter to make
a classification. Flame speed is represented by a factor called Weaver
flame speed factor, which is expressed on an arbitrary scale, where
hydrogen is assumed to have 100 Weaver flame speed. It is defined as
the ratio of the laminar flame speed of the gas of interest with that of
hydrogen. The lower is the number the lower the flame speed. Weaver
speed factor is greatly influenced by the amount of hydrogen in the
mixture. Gaseous fuels have lower energy content than liquid fuels
such as, petrol or diesel. However, they are potentially more deserved
fuel as they produce very low greenhouse gas upon burning and hence
air quality benefits are obtained compared to conventional and petrol
and diesel products.
 Natural Gas
Natural gas is usually a mixture of methane, ethane,
propane, butane, pentane and sometimes a small amount of
C5+ hydrocarbons. The major constituent is methane.
Except these, hydrogen sulphide is sometimes obtained in
natural gas, although it is not very common. The natural gas
containing high amount of hydrogen sulphide is termed as
sour gas and that contains low amount of hydrogen sulphide
is termed as sweet gas. Common but trace constituent gases
are carbon dioxide and nitrogen with average proportions in
the range of 0.5 to 10% and 0.5 to 5% respectively.
 Natural Gas
Broadly natural gas is classified in three types :
1. Non-associated gas, which is not in contact with oil in the reservoir.
2. Gas-cap associated gas, which is overlying the oil phase in the reservoir.
3. Associated gas which is dissolved in the oil at the reservoir condition (solution gas).
Gas-oil ratio (GOR) is the ratio of the volume of gas to the volume of oil at normal or
standard conditions of temperature and pressure. It determines the amount of gas
dissolved in oil in a reservoir. GOR 1 represents that, 1 m3 of gas is recovered at the
separator per m3 of oil extracted at normal temperature and pressure. This ratio
varies from a few fractions of a cubic meter to more than 150 cm3 of associated gas
per m3 of oil. In Fig 1., description of different types of reservoir are shown. Example
1 represents a dry natural gas reservoir, which may contain some carbon dioxide and
nitrogen along with lower hydrocarbon gases mixed with the major component
methane. Gas is located above the water phase accumulated at the bottom of the
reservoir. Example 2 shows a picture of condensate gas.
 Natural Gas
In example 3, the quantity of liquid hydrocarbons phase is quite high, so
that, at the thermodynamic condition of the reservoir, the liquid and
gaseous phases co-exist. In this condition, the gas phase contains dissolved
hydrocarbons of liquid range and liquid oil contains dissolved gases.
Although the liquid phase is of sufficient quantity, but the major phase is
gas, hence, the former forms an ‘oil-ring’ between the gas phase and water.
 Natural Gas
The reservoir shown in example 4 has oil as its major component. This is
primarily an oil reservoir containing a gas cap over it. The gases are
dissolved in the oil and some oil is also dissolved in gas. Example 5 shows
an oil reserve having gas dissolved in liquid oil. The amount of gas is quite
small in amount. Example 6 depicts an oil reserve with no gas dissolved in
oil. Non-associated gas can also be ‘wet gas’, which means that it contains
appreciable amount of ethane, propane, butane and some higher
hydrocarbons. Except methane, other hydrocarbons are condensed to
form ‘condensate’. This condensate can be mixed with naphtha fraction.
 Natural Gas
Natural gas has calorific value in the range of 8400 to 9100 Kcal/Nm3. Hence, this
is a high calorific value gas. CNG (compressed natural gas) and LNG (liquefied
natural gas) are both the forms of natural gas or methane. The key difference is
that CNG is stored as a gas at a high pressure, whereas LNG is cooled to -160C
which causes it to become liquid. Natural gas hydrate is a cage-like structure of
natural gas and water frozen together into a solid substance, which is mainly
found in arctic regions and in the ocean's bed. Research is now going on to better
understand this large fuel resource, how natural gas hydrates form, where they
are located and how they could be used as a future source of natural gas. The
potential of this vast resource may be more than the total reserve of oil, natural
gas and coal all around the world. Several possible methods are investigated to
recover the natural gas from its hydrates as this large amount of natural gas
deposit may fulfill world’s growing energy needs. Hydrates may also provide a
novel way to store natural gas for transportation. Currently, natural gas travels
primarily by pipeline. Solidified gas hydrates could be transported by specially
designed ships.
 Liquefied Petroleum Gas
Liquefied petroleum gas or LPG in short, is a colourless and volatile
hydrocarbon gas which is obtained from refinery gas or natural gas
(including associated gas in oilfields) through pressurizing, cooling and
liquefaction. The constituents of LPG from refinery gas are mainly
propane, propylene, butane, butylenes, with a small amount of
pentane and pentylene, as well as a little amount of sulfide impurities.
LPG from natural gas scarcely contains olefins. LPG has main use as
industrial and domestic fuel as well as combustion engine fuel. LPG is a
flammable gas and explodes when its concentration in the air reaches
a certain value. LPG remains in gaseous state at atmospheric pressure
and normal ambient temperatures, but it can be liquefied when
moderate pressure is applied or when the temperature is sufficiently
reduced, and this way it is stored in cylinders.
 Liquefied Petroleum Gas
Compared with other fuels, LPG has the following particular
advantages of less pollution, higher heat generation because
of its very high calorific value, ease of transportation by
roadways (tankers) and waterways (vessels). Storage of LPG
is also very convenient. It can be stored in tanks and can be
filled in cylinders for customer use. LPG can also be supplied
through gas distribution station and pipelines. Moreover, it
is free of smoke, dust and carbon residue. Due to the above
advantages of LPG, it is widely used as industrial,
commercial and domestic fuel. In addition to these, LPG is a
useful raw material for chemical industry.
 Liquefied Petroleum Gas
Pyrolysis gas produced from the thermal cracking and
catalytic cracking processes is a major source of LPG. The
major components of Pyrolysis gas are hydrogen,
methane, ethane, ethylene, propane, propylene, butane,
butylenes, and C5+. These hydrocarbons may be
separated by cold separation process and LPG may be
prepared by liquefying C4 and C5 gases which can be
stored in cylinders. On opening the valve of the LPG
cylinders, the flammable gaseous hydrocarbons pass
through the pipes into the burner.
 Liquefied Petroleum Gas
LPG forms blue flame on ignition, giving out a large amount of heat
during the combustion (with heat generation value of 92,100 kJ/m3-
121,400kJ/m3). The constituents of LPG can be separated and used to
produce synthetic plastic, synthetic rubber, synthetic fiber,
pharmaceuticals, explosives, dyestuff, etc. Although LPG is a
convenient fuel but it is dangerous too. If the pipeline leaks or the
valve is not tightly closed, LPG spreads into the room. When its
content reaches the explosion limit, LPG will explode if it comes in
contact with any sparks. Because of this nature of this gas, LPG
processing plants often mix a little amount of bad odourous mercaptan
or thioether derivatives with LPG to detect its leakage. When LPG
leaks, it can be smelled instantly and corresponding emergency
measures can be taken.
END