Natural gas is easy to transport overland in pipelines, but difficult to transport across the oceans due to its low density and therefore large volume. Increasingly, countries import and export natural gas in liquefied form. Like all energy sources, natural gas must be available at the point of use. As a gas, the low density of natural gas presents special challenges for transport.
Due to its volume, the vehicle cannot be easily stored or moved. For ground transportation, natural gas usually moves through a network of gas pipelines. For transport across bodies of water, it is liquefied and transported by boat. The following map from the EIA shows the gas pipeline network in the U.S.
UU. Natural gases, such as ethane and methane, are difficult to store and transport. However, by converting them into liquids, specifically liquid alcohols, they could be more easily stored, transported and used as fuels. Ethanol, the liquid form of ethane, is a particularly attractive form of liquid fuel because it burns cleaner and provides more energy than its alternatives.
Unfortunately, current methods of making ethanol from ethane require extreme heat (approximately 400-600 °F), which makes it a very expensive fuel. Liquefied natural gas flows efficiently through pipelines, making it a preferred method of transporting natural gas. Most LNG pipeline infrastructure carries LNG between liquefaction facilities and storage facilities, from storage facilities to oil tankers and from tankers to facilities. LNG is much denser than compressed natural gas (CNG).
This means that much larger quantities of gas can be transported for the same volumetric flow. The disadvantage is that the construction of LNG pipelines is difficult and expensive. The liquefaction of natural gas allows gas to be transported where pipelines cannot be built, for example, through the ocean. In addition, in the event that natural gas is released from the compressor station, either during annual tests or during an emergency shutdown, natural gas, a mixture of hydrocarbons, mainly methane, will increase and dissipate safely as it is absorbed into the atmosphere because methane is lighter than aerating.
Natural gas processing plants also extract pollutants from the natural gas stream to produce pipeline quality dry gas, which is transported to end users. The composition of wellhead natural gas determines the number of stages and processes required to produce pipeline-quality dry natural gas. Even today, burning and ventilation continue in places where local markets and gas transport infrastructure are lacking, or where the gas itself is contaminated with other non-combustible gases. At the end of the main line transmission system, and sometimes at the beginning and in the middle, underground natural gas and LNG (liquefied natural gas) storage facilities provide inventory management, supply backup and access to natural gas to maintain system balance.
The transport of liquefied natural gas (LNG) refers to any movement or shipment of natural gas in its liquid form. LNG also makes it possible to store quantities of natural gas economically in sites where geological conditions are not suitable for underground gas storage. Finally, some environmentalists argue that investing in natural gas pipelines and LNG infrastructure supports dependence on fossil fuels, making natural gas less of a bridge fuel and more of a permanent source of energy. For example, each station has an emergency stop system that stops the compression units, isolates and ventilates the gas pipes of the compression station, and diverts gas in the pipeline around the station.
The turbines that drive the gas compressors use low-emission technology and are powered by clean-burning natural gas. Some underground storage sites are designed to provide maximum service, but most of the time stored LNG (liquefied natural gas) and liquefied petroleum gas, such as propane, are vaporized and injected into the supply of the natural gas distribution system to meet instantaneous requirements. They play an integral role in the natural gas transmission system, which has proven to be the safest and most reliable way to transport natural gas. To produce LNG, natural gas is compressed and cooled to about 260 degrees Fahrenheit, a step that converts gas to liquid and reduces its volume by a factor of 600.
Two of the most important characteristics of an underground storage tank are the ability to store natural gas for future use and the speed at which natural gas inventory can be injected and removed (its delivery capacity rate). . .
