GAS FIELD ENGINEERING (GFE)

INTRO TO NATURAL GAS

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 WHY DO WE NEED TO LEARN GFE?
Constant contribution of NG
contributes (22%) to world energy
supply 2014 & projection 2060

Demand for Engineer

Employment with GFE
knowledge

World Energy Council (2017)

• In the US, NG serves 66.7 million houses, and 5.4 million business,
provides 3 millions employment (American Gas Association 2017)
• Malaysia is no. 29 in NG consumption (CIA 2014)
• Differences in NG behavior and technology compared to oil
 WHAT DOES THE COURSE TELL YOU?
COURSE LEARNING OUTCOME
Distribution of proved reserves in 1995, 2005, and 2015

Middle East
Europe
Asia Pacific
Africa
North US
S.&Cent. US

(BP Statistical Review 2017)

Flow-after-flow test

• gas backpressure or four-point tests

• different stabilized flow
• with or without a very short intermediate
• shut-in period.

(Lee and Wattenbarger 1996)

WHAT DOES THE COURSE TELL YOU?
Effect of 2 phases in BHFP

(Lee and Wattenbarger 1996)

Orifice meter

(Lee and Wattenbarger 1996)

INTRODUCTION TO NATURAL GAS

© 2017 INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY PETRONAS SDN BHD

All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by
any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the permission of the copyright owner.
 NATURAL GAS (NG) – OVERVIEW 1
• Homogeneous fluid, low density & viscosity, no
Gas Definition definite volume, fills completely any vessel

• Gas behavior is different from liquid behavior. Gas is

Gas Behavior very much affected by pressure changes than liquid

• Combustible mixture of gaseous HC that accumulates

NG Definition in porous sedimentary rocks (Dictionary.com 2017)

NG Composition (% • CH4 (70-90%); C2H6,C3H8,n-C4 (0-20%),

• impurities (0-5%)
mole)
• Ideal Gas, pV=nRT
Gas Laws • Real Gas (actual HC at reservoir), pV=znRT

• Apparent molecular weight of gas mixture

Properties • Specific gravity
NATURAL GAS (NG) – OVERVIEW 2

Lee and Wattenbarger (1996)

 NG CRITICAL TEMPERATURE
• Gases can be converted to liquids by
compressing the gas at a suitable
temperature

• Gases become more difficult to liquefy

as the temperature increases because
the kinetic energies of the particles
that make up the gas also increase

• The critical temperature of a substance

is the temperature at and above which
vapor of the substance cannot be
liquefied with some amount of
pressure is applied
https://www.chem.purdue.edu/gchelp/liquids/critical.html
 NG CRITICAL PRESSURE

• The critical pressure of a substance is the minimum

pressure required to liquefy a gas at its critical
temperature.

Tubes containing water at several temperatures.

Note that at or above 374oC (the critical
temperature for water), only water vapor exists
in the tube.
https://www.chem.purdue.edu/gchelp/liquids/critical.html
http://science.jrank.org/pages/2922/Gases-Liquefaction-Critical-temperature-pressure.html
INTRODUCTION TO NATURAL GAS
STATISTICAL REVIEW
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 NG CONSUMPTION IN
WORLD PRIMARY ENERGY
 NG CONSUMPTION IN
MALAYSIA

Malaysia high NG
consumption after N.
America, Europe and
Australia

Tonnes oil eq.

 NG USAGE & SOURCES

© 2017 INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY PETRONAS SDN BHD

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 NG: DESIRABLE FUEL
• Natural Gas is cleaner
• Burn NG: released <50%
less CO2 than coal and
<20% less than oil (IGU
2017)
• NG combustion products:
CO2 & H2O. Coal and oil
(EIA 1998)
combustion products: NOx,
SO2, & ash
(Naturalgas.org 2017)

• The burner system is simple,

cheap and easy to maintain..
 NG USAGE

• As Fuel
• residential fuel
• in furnaces
• water heaters
• cooking stoves, and clothes dryers

• As Raw Material for the manufacture of Chemicals

• Used to make petrochemicals as a base product
for fertilizers, detergents, pharmaceuticals,
plastics, and other goods
 NG SOURCES
• Pyramid resources • Conventional vs Unconventional HC

1000 mD
Good
Reservoir
Rock
Average 10 mD
Reservoir
Rock
0.1 mD
Poor Reservoir Rock
Unconventional Gas
Tight Gas CBM
Shale Gas Gas Hydrates (Oil and Gas Blog 2017)

(Aguilera and Harding 2007)

3 MINUTES VIDEO ON CONVENTIONAL VS
UNCONVENTIONAL HYDROCARBON
BREAK
INTRODUCTION TO NATURAL GAS
PROCESSING & HANDLING
© 2017 INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY PETRONAS SDN BHD
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any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the permission of the copyright owner.
 NG VS OIL

• Oil:
– Pollution problems
– Easy to transport

• NG:
– Cleaner
– Difficult to transport to the market in long distances
and large quantities (remote gas fields might be
uneconomic due to transport cost)
– Alternatives: Bring the market to the field (build a
factory at the site e.g. fertilizer plant), install an LNG
facility.
 ASSOCIATED GAS VS NON-ASSOCIATED GAS

1. Associated gas (crude

oil well)
2. Wet gas/rich gas
(condensate gas well)
3. Non-associated gas/dry
gas (gas well)

https://www.ihrdc.com/els/po-
demo/module01/mod_001_02.htm
ASSOCIATED GAS VS NON-ASSOCIATED GAS

(https://www.2b1stconsulting.com/associated-gas/)
 ACTIVE LEARNING 2 - THINK PAIR SHARE

• Discuss associated gas vs non-associated gas

• Discuss conventional resource vs unconventional

resource

1. Write your answer INDIVIDUALLY

2. Pair with another student & discuss your answer
3. Come up with a better idea
4. One student voluntary stand up and share their solution
• Associated gas:
– form of natural gas which is found with
deposits of petroleum
–dissolved in the oil or as a free "gas cap"
above the oil in the reservoir
–It may be a stranded gas reserve due to
the remote location of the oil field
–this gas is simply burnt off in gas flares
• Sold and included in the natural gas
distribution networks, used for on-site
electricity generation with engines
or turbines, reinjected for enhanced oil
recovery converted from gas to liquids
producing synthetic fuels or used as
feedstock for the petrochemical industry
• Non associated gas
– Non-associated petroleum gas, also known as
free gas or dry gas is a naturally occurring gas
that is not dissolved in crude oil in a reservoir
where oil is extracted. Sometimes, it is found
above some fluids or under the oil present in
the oil reservoir but in a state of equilibrium.
This gas is also found in gas and condensate
wells where there is little or no crude oil
present.
• Conventional sources of energy:
– These sources of energy are also called non
renewable sources. These sources of energy are in
limited quantity except hydro-electric power.
– Divided into commercial and non commercial
• Commercial Energy Sources:
– These are coal, petroleum and electricity. These are
called commercial energy because they have a price
and consumer has to pay the price to purchase them.
• NON COMMERCIAL ENERGY SOURCES
– These sources include fuel wood, straw and dried
dung.

• NON-CONVENTIONAL SOURCES OF ENERGY

– These are also called renewable sources of
energy. Examples are Bio energy, solar energy,
wind energy and tidal energy.
NG FIELD HANDLING

(US EIA 2007)

NG PROCESSING
NG PROCESSING
 NG Processing
• Natural gas is a mixture of methane, ethane, propane, butane and
other hydrocarbons, water vapor, oil and condensates, hydrogen
sulfides, carbon dioxide, nitrogen, other gases, and solid particles.
• The free water and water vapors are corrosive to the transportation
equipment.
• Hydrates can plug the gas accessories creating several flow
problems.
• Other gas mixtures such as hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide
are known to lower the heating value of natural gas by reducing its
overall fuel efficiency.
• This makes mandatory that natural gas is purified before it is sent to
transportation pipelines.
• Gas processing is aimed at preventing corrosion, an environmental
and safety hazard associated with the transport of natural gas.
NG PROCESSING
 LNG
• LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas)
• Methane changed from gas to liquid. Purpose: Facilitate transportation
• At the moment, no significant market for LNG. It is regasified at the
landing port and delivered to buyer by conventional natural gas
pipeline. Experimental usage on LNG on large trucks.
• Problem: has to be stored at cryogenic condition (extremely cold
temperature to avoid vaporization)
Boiling Temperature at Atmospheric Pressure
K C
Methane 111 -162.15
Butane 263 -10.15
Propane 230 -43.15
CO2 195 -78.15
O2 90 -183.15
N2 77.3 -195.85
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryogenics
LNG
LNG
 LNG

(The Petroleum Institute)

 LNG

(The Petroleum Institute)

LNG