Gas supply

Fig.6.2 Rock strata below the North Sea with salt dome traps for gas
`
1 mil. yrs
70 mil. yrs
135 mil. yrs
180 mil. yrs
225 mil. yrs
270 mil. yrs
Impermeable rock salt or shale
Natural gas
Impermeable rock salt or shale
Natural gas
Sea
Sand
Clay
Shale
Sandstone
Shale
Limestone
Limestone
Coal
300m
600m
900m
1500m
1800m
2100m
2700m
Gas supply in Peninsular Malaysia
Gas Utilisation
Natural gas distribution system
Peninsular Malaysia
Eastern region Kemaman, Gebeng,
Kuantan, Tanjung Gelang, Semambu,
Teluk Kalong
Southern region Pasir Gudang, Johor
Bharu, Kluang, Senai, Kulai
Central region Shah Alam, KL, PJ,
Klang, Seremban, Nilai, Port Dickson,
Bangi
Kertih, Paka
Background of the PGU project

Under the Peninsular Gas Utilisation (PGU) project
undertaken by PGB, gas from offshore fields is landed at the
Gas Processing Plant (GPP) in Kertih, Terengganu, where the
gas is treated and processed to separate its main
components, namely, methane or known as sales gas; ethane,
propane, butane and condensate.
The sales gas is distributed to end users at various demand
areas throughout the Peninsular Malaysia via high pressure
underground pipelines. Besides meeting the domestic
demand, gas is also being exported to Singapore since
January 1992 for use at the Senoko power station
Operations

The PGU project has been implemented in
three stages. PGU I and PGU II were
operational since 1984 and 1992 respectively.
PGU II is divided into 2 system. Construction of
PGU III pipelines have been undertaken in
three sectors.
PGU Looping

The PGU looping project has been implemented
to cater for the future increase in sales gas
demand; and to provide a security of supply to
customers. The looping project involves
construction of pipelines running parallel to the
existing PGU I and PGU II pipelines and has been
implemented in stages
- PGU Loop 1
Construction of 265 km main gas pipeline from Kertih
to Segamat in two phases, with the first phase
completed in August 1998 and the final phase in
December 1999.
- PGU Loop 2

Construction of 227 km of main gas pipeline from
Segamat to Meru was implemented in two phases.
Phase one was completed in 2000, and the final phase
in 2001.
Gas Processing (Plant Operations Division (POD))

POD operates the six gas processing plants which are divided into two
complexes - Gas Processing Plant A and Gas Processing Plant B located
in Kertih and Paka, Terengganu, respectively. With total combined sales
gas processing capacity of over 2,000 million standard cubic feet per
day, these gas processing plants process natural gas into sales gas and
other by-products such as ethane, propane and butane to be
transmitted to PETRONAS customers in power and non-power sectors
via the gas pipeline network.
Gas Transmission
Transmission Operations Division (TOD)

TOD operates the Peninsular Gas Utilisation (PGU) pipeline network by
managing the supply of gas to all PETRONAS customers throughout
Malaysia and ensuring that its reliable, efficient and safe. The Segamat
Operations Centre which houses the PETRONAS Gas Control Centre acts
as mission control for the entire PGU network.
Industrial Utilities
Centralised Utility Facilities Division (CUF)

CUF supplies a range of industrial utilities to the petrochemical
businesses in Kertih Integrated Petrochemical Complex in Terengganu
and Gebeng Industrial Area in Pahang. The industrial utilities include
electricity, steam, industrial gases and other by-products such as liquid
oxygen, liquid nitrogen, demineralised water, raw water, cooling water
and boiler feed water, as well as effluent treatment.
Gas utilisation
Properties of natural gas
Natural gas is lighter than air - relative density
about 0.55
Its composition is shown in Table 6.1
Constituent Chemical
formula
Percentage
composition
Methane
Ethane
Propane
Butane
Carbon dioxide
Nitrogen
CH
4
C
2
H
6
C
3
H
8
C
4
H
10

CO
2
N
2
90
5
1.5
0.5
0.5
2.5
Properties of natural gas (2)
In order for combustion to occur, there must be
sufficient heat and oxygen
Ignition temperature is 700
o
C and oxygen for
combustion is required at twice the volume of
methane
Installation (1)
For typical domestic consumption, a 25mm
bore pipe is quite adequate

Table 6.2 Service pipe sizes for flats



Individual domestic main connection is without
an isolating valve as main pressure is relatively
low, rarely exceeding 75mbar (7.5kPa)
Nominal bore of pipe, mm Number of dwellings
32
38
50
2-3
4-6
Over 6
Installation (2)
Supplies over 50mm in diameter are provided
with an accessible service valve where the pipe
enters the property boundary
Service valve must be easily identified for
closure in event of a fire
Ground cover of 375mm is sufficient as shown
in a typical installation of Figure 6.1
The primary pipework is terminated at a meter
before secondary distribution in the building
Meters are preferably located in a purpose-
made external box
Figure 6.1 Domestic gas supply
Gas main
Valve here
on larger
installation
375mm
25mm bore polyethylene
service pipe
Installation pipework
Semi-concealed
meter cupboard
Mastic sealed sleeve
Emergency control valve
Protective
cover
Preformed
bend
Installation (3)
Location of meter on the inside of an external wall is
acceptable if building has a lobby area serving a block
of flats or similar collection of units
The reasoning behind external locations is for:
Ease of periodic reading without disturbing building
occupants
Less opportunity for bogus officials to gain access
to premises
Guaranteed meter access at any time, preventing
accounting arrears and fraudulent misuse
Easy emergency access such as the need for
isolation in event of a fire
Installation (4)
The service entry must be sleeved or be
provided with a lintel where it passes thru a wall
to allow protection against movement
It should be of steel or copper above ground
and must not be routed under foundations or
thru unventilated voids such as wall cavities
Taping of electrical cables to the pipe and
location near heat sources are also
unacceptable
Installation (5)
Internal meters
The traditional practice of siting meters under
the stairway is now avoided though under
special circumstances, it may still be permitted
if void is well-ventilated and surrounding
construction has at least half an hour fire
resistance

Installation (6)
Figure 6.4 indicates the application to multi-
storey properties where a ventilated service
shaft houses an internal gas riser pipe to
meters in each dwelling

Figure 6.4 Supply to
high-rise units
One-hour fire-resistant shaft
with half-hour resistance
access door at each level
R
i
s
e
r

p
i
p
e

Movement joint &
service valve
High- & low-level
vents
Service pipe
Base plate & dust valve
Meter
Ground floor apartment
First floor apartment
Sealed sleeve
Installation (7)
Safety features include:
Through ventilation air bricks at the top and
bottom of the shaft
Flexible pipe joints at every branch
Fire stopping where the pipe penetrates the
structure
Installation (8)
Meters
Meters are supplied with a pressure governor
and flexible stainless steel connections as
shown in Figure 6.5
Governors are preset to provide constant
pressure of 20mbar (200mm w.g.) and are lead-
sealed to prevent unqualified tampering
Figure 6.5 Domestic gas meter
Service pipe
Service valve
Flexible stainless steel
connections
Pressure governor
Earth bond within 600mm of meter
10mm
2
green and yellow
sheathed cable
Test point
Installation (9)
A gas plug cock precedes the meter to provide
means of isolation for maintenance &
emergencies
On the meter outlet is a testing point or nipple
for checking supply pressure and system
leakage
Installation (10)
There is also an electrical equipotential earth
bond within 600mm of the meter terminating at
an earthed rod
This is necessary as an electrical fault within
the boiler or its accessories could conduct thru
the gas pipework
Installation (11)
Secondary pipework
Internal distribution may be in mild steel pipe or
copper tube, the latter preferred for domestic
installations
A typical scheme is shown in Figure 6.8
In blocks of flats, it may be necessary to install
several secondary meters as shown in Figure
6.9
Prepayment type meters could be used but
have been largely replaced with credit meters
Figure 6.8 Domestic gas distribution
Convector
Boiler
Meter cupboard
Service pipe
Dust trap
Refrigerator Cooker
Decorative fuel effect fire
22
15
15 6
15 6
Convector
Figure 6.9 Gas supply to flats
Gas main
50mm service pipe
Isolating
valve
Primary
meter
Secondary meter
22mm
Riser in service duct
Installation (12)
Purging and testing
Before commissioning the appliances, it is
necessary to:
Purge the system of air
Test for soundness (leakages)
Installation (13)
Purging
Purging process is to remove air, debris, dust
and metal fillings from the pipework
During this operation, good ventilation is
essential as is an absence of naked flames,
smoking, use of electric switches, power tools
and appliances

Installation (14)
Purging procedure
Close the plug cock before the meter and
disconnect secondary pipework at the
furthest fitting
Open the control cock and allow at least five
times the volume of gas per revolution thru
the meter. For example, if the meter has
0.07ft
3
/rev, allow 5x0.07, i.e. 3.5ft
3
of gas to
purge the installation. The smell of gas will be
apparent at the disconnected joint
Further branches of pipework need only be
opened until gas is sensed
Installation (15)
Testing
New installations require all open ends to be
capped and fitted appliances turned off at their
control valves
If the meter is fitted, the adjacent control cock is
closed and the screw removed from the test
point
Figure 6.10 shows the testing apparatus,
consisting of manometer (glass U-tube), hand
bellows, flexible tubing and test cock


Installation (16)
With the tubing attached to the test point and
water levelled at zero in the manometer, the
hand bellows are pumped to raise a
displacement of 300mm w.g.
The test cock is closed and allow one minute
for variations in pressure due to temperature
adjustment
Thereafter allow for two minutes, if pressure is
static, installation is leak-free

300mm water
gauge (w.g.)
Attached to
test point on
the meter
Figure 6.10 Installation test equipment (to explain w.g)
Pressure caused by hand
bellows or bicycle pump
Installation (17)
Leakage detection
If test proves satisfactory the appliances may
be commissioned
If leakages occur, this must be located and
repaired
An obvious smell may indicate source
Otherwise, all pipe joints should be sprayed
with a leak detection aerosol or brushed with
soap solution
A profusion of bubbles indicate the leak
Installation (18)
Safety controls
Boilers and other heat-producing appliances
which have automatic gas controls, must be
fitted with a safety device to prevent the
discharge of uncombusted gas if the pilot lights
fails
The pilot flame failure mechanism shown in
Figure 6.11 has a thermocouple suspended in
the pilot flame
When hot, thermocouple energies or opens an
electromagnet valve (thermoelectric valve) to
permit gas flow to the burner
Installation (19)
The thermoelectric valve is initially operated
manually with a push button and spark igniter
for the pilot light. After 20-30 seconds the button
can be released as the electromagnet has
energised the valve
If the pilot persistently extinguishes, the
thermocouple is most likely in need of
replacement
Appliances (1)
Water heaters
Instantaneous hot water heaters with several
draw-offs have a gas burner and finned heat
exchanger in the flue
As a hot tap is opened, the flow of water
activates the gas valve to release gas for
combustion by the pilot light
Appliances (2)
The burning gas transfers its heat energy into
the water and discharges thru conventional or
balanced flue
Sizes vary from a single outlet over the sink-
mounted heaters to the multi-point application
shown in Figure 6.17
Figure 6.17 Multi-point water heater
Gas design calculations (1)
Gas consumption
Gas consumed by an appliance is established
from the following formula:
Q = (appliance input rating x 3,600)/ (Calorific
value of the gas)
Where Q = quantity of gas in cubic metres per
hour
Gas design calculations (2)
For example, a boiler of 18kW input rating:
Calorific value of natural gas = 38,000kJ/m
3
Calorific value of LPG = 95,000kJ/m
3
Therefore, for natural gas, Q =
18x3,600/38,000 = 1.7m
3
/h
And for LPG, Q = 18x3,600/95,000 =
0.68m
3
/h
Gas design calculations (3)
Operating cost
Fuel tariff are expressed in kWh. For the
preceding example, the boiler operating from
natural gas at 1.5 pence per kWh for 6 hours a
day, the daily & weekly running costs will be:
18kW x 6hours x 1.5 = 1.62
For a 7-day week, 18x6x7x1.5 = 11.34

Gas design calculations (4)
Gas pressure
Gas pressure are extremely low by comparison
with other service systems and are measured in
millibars or head in millimetres water gauge
recorded on a manometer
1mbar = 10mm w.g. = 0.1kPa
Therefore, 3kPa = ??? w.g.
Since 100Pa = 10mm w.g.
Therefore, 3,000Pa =300mm w.g.

Gas design calculations (5)
Pipe sizing
The size of pipework depends on the gas
consumption and the effective length of pipe as
shown in Table 6.5 and 6.6 for copper & steel
pipes.
Table 6.7 provides Resistance (to gas flow) due
to fittings
Gas design calculations (6)
Table 6.5 Natural gas discharge rates thru copper tube, m
3
/hr
Tube
o.d.
(mm)
Maximum effective length of tube (m)
3 6 9 12 15 20
6
8

12
15

22
28

0.12
0.52

1.50
2.90

8.70
18.00
0.06
0.26

1.00
1.90

5.80
12.00
-
0.17

0.85
1.50

4.60
9.40
-
0.13

0.82
1.30

3.90
8.00
-
0.10

0.69
1.10

3.40
7.00
-
0.07

0.52
0.95

2.90
5.90
Gas design calculations (7)
Table 6.6 Natural gas discharge rates thru steel pipe, m
3
/hr
Pipe
bore
(mm)
Maximum effective length of tube (m)
3 6 9 12 15 20
3
6

9
12

20
25
0.29
0.80

2.10
4.30

9.70
18.00
0.14
0.53

1.40
2.90

6.60
12.00
0.09
0.49

1.10
2.30

5.30
10.00
0.07
0.36

0.93
2.00

4.50
8.50
0.05
0.29

0.81
1.70

3.90
7.50
-
0.22

0.70
1.50

3.30
6.30
Gas design calculations (8)
Table 6.7 Resistance (to gas flow) due to fittings
Pipe/ tube
diameter (mm)
Approximate equivalent lengths (m)
Elbow Tee 90
o
bend
< 25 mm bore
steel pipe
&
<28 mm o.d.
copper tube

0.5 0.5 0.3
Gas design calculations (9)
Pipe sizing
Example
Figure 6.34 shows an installation to duplicate
35kW rated input boilers fed with natural gas of
calorific value 38,000kJ/m
3
. Calculate the size
of each section of the steel pipework, adding
allowances for resistance due to bends, etc
from Table 6.7
B
METER
5m 6m
1m
1m
35kW 35kW
A C
L
L
L
T
Gas design calculations (10)
Fuel f Value Calorific
x Rating Input Appliance
Q
o
600 , 3

Gas design calculations (11)

Pipe A:
Q = 2x35x3,600/ 38,000 = 6.63m
3
/h
Actual effective pipe length=(0.5+5+0.5)=6.0m
Try 20mm bore steel pipe; at 9.70m
3
/h, max
allowable effective length of pipe is 3m; therefore
not suitable.
Try 25mm bore steel pipe; at 7.50m
3
/h, max
allowable effective length of pipe is 15m>6.0m,
therefore 25mm pipe is suitable.

Pipe B:
Q = 35x3,600/ 38,000 = 3.31m
3
/h
Actual effective pipe length=(0.5+1)=1.5m
Try 12mm bore steel pipe; at 4.30m
3
/h,
max allowable effective length of pipe is
3m>1.5m, therefore 12mm bore is
suitable.

Pipe C:
Q = 35x3,600/ 38,000 = 3.31m
3
/h
Actual effective pipe
length=(0.5+6+0.5+1)=8.0m
Try 12mm bore steel pipe; at 4.30m
3
/h, max
allowable effective length of pipe is 3m<8.0m,
therefore 12mm bore is not suitable.
Try 20mm bore steel pipe; at 3.90m
3
/h, max
allowable effective length of pipe is 15m>8.0m,
therefore 20mm bore is suitable.


Thank you