Field Handling of Natural Gas, 4th Ed.
Author: Jodie Leecraft
Format: Paperback
Pages: 177
ISBN: 0-88698-127-1
Publisher: PETEX

Availability: In Stock $37.00

A valuable instructional guide to the various pieces of equipment used in field handling of natural gas. Explains the roles of the equipment and tells how to maintain it. Chapters cover natural gas production, natural gas and liquid separation, hydrates, dehydration of natural gas, miscellaneous gas conditioning, compressors and prime movers, instruments and controls, and measurement of natural gas and gas liquids. Two appendices-gas facility maintenance and notes on gas processing plants-are included, in addition to a glossary.

From the Book:

Introduction
Natural gas has been used commercially as a fuel for over 150 years in America and for centuries in China. The production, processing, and distribution of natural gas has become an important segment of our domestic economy and is a major factor in the world’s energy markets.

Since its discovery in the United States, reported to be at Fredonia, New York, in 1821, natural gas has been used as a fuel in areas immediately surrounding the gas fields. In the 1920s and 1930s, a few long pipelines from 22 to 24 inches in diameter, operating at 400 to 600 pounds per square inch, were installed to transport gas to industrial areas remote from the field sources. But during that period also, huge quantities of natural gas that were produced along with crude oil were flared because of the lack of available markets and effective conservation practices.

The modern natural gas industry really began after World War II, when a number of long-distance pipelines were constructed to serve markets in the populated areas of the country. By that time, advances in welding and manufacture of pipe permitted pressures up to 1,000 psi and diameters up to 30 inches. Today virtually every area of the United States is served by natural gas.

The facilities normally operated in the handling of gas in the field are those required to condition the gas to make it marketable — to remove impurities, water, and excess hydrocarbon liquids, and to control delivery pressure. The last operation involves the use of pressure-reducing regulators or, more often, compressors to raise the pressure.

Natural gas processing plants are usually designed to remove certain valuable products over and bove those needed to make the gas marketable — that is, natural gasoline, butane, propane, ethane, and even methane in some instances. Plants may also be designed to recover elemental sulfur from the hydrogen sulfide gas removed from wellhead gas. Another function of plants is to separate the recovered liquid hydrocarbons into various mixtures or pure products by the use of fractionating columns.

Plants nearly always incorporate in their processes many of the functions ordinarily performed by field facilities. Dehydration and H2S removal form part of the plant operation, and the equipment used is essentially that described in chapters 4, 5, and 6.

Contents:

* Characteristics of Natural Gas
* Natural Gas Production
* Natural Gas and Liquid Separation
* Hydrates
* Dehydration of Natural Gas
* Miscellaneous Gas Conditioning
* Compressors and Prime Movers
* Instruments and Controls
* Measurement of Natural Gas and Gas Liquids
* Appendix A: Gas Facility Maintenance
* Appendix B: Notes on Gas Processing Plants
* Glossary