This section contains 3,475 words (approx. 12 pages at 300 words per page) |
Natural gas is an important energy source consisting mainly of methane gas. It is usually found commingled with deposits of crude oil and also in stand-alone deposits where the gas has migrated to, leaving the associated petroleum in some other location. Methane is also produced by decaying vegetation (swamp gas) in some coal mines and in land fills, but these sources generally are not suitable for commercial use.
When natural gas comes out of the ground (see Figure 1), it typically consists of 75 to 95 percent methane, with small quantities of ethane, propane, and butane. It may also contain water vapor, carbon dioxide, nitrogen, oxygen, and sulfurous gases such as hydrogen sulfide. Unlike petroleum, which needs to be separated and refined into a variety of fuels and petrochemical products, the nature and general purity of natural gas makes processing far...
This section contains 3,475 words (approx. 12 pages at 300 words per page) |