A History of Lng

The history of LNG is very diverse with many different factors contributing to what we know and use today. LNG stands for liquefied natural gas. This natural gas is drilled for and extracted from the earth in a gaseous state. LNG is a natural forming composite of methane, water, carbon dioxide, nitrogen, oxygen, sulfur and other hydrocarbons. In this respect it is very similar to petroleum, but it is a much cleaner burning fossil fuel therefore making it a more in demand fuel to our Eco friendly economy.

The only problem with natural gas is that it occupies such a large space thus making it difficult to transport aboard conventional vessels, but a solution to solve this was invented. In 1914 Geoffrey Cabot discovered a way to liquefy natural gas and transport it using a barge. To do this Cabot refrigerated the gas to a negative two hundred sixty degrees below zero, and kept the gas at this constant temperature. In this cold state, the natural gas liquefied and reduced its volume by about 600 to 1. LNG is non toxic, odorless, colorless, non corrosive and when vaporized it burns only in certain percentages with air. These variables contribute to make a very superior energy supply that they world will depend on highly in the future. With this liquefying technique it became very lucrative to start producing natural gas around the world. A few countries that have very large LNG reserves are Algeria, Australia, Brunei, Indonesia, Libya, Malaysia, Nigeria, Oman, Qatar, and Trinidad and Tobago. As one can see these countries are very different than they typical oil producing nations that the world formerly relied on for fuel production. This really decreases our dependency on unstable Middle Eastern countries.

Let us now shift from the development of LNG to the actual production and practical uses of LNG. As previously stated LNG, like oil, is accessed by drilling for it. But before someone can drill for it, exploration teams are needed to determine if a particular area will be productive or not. The invention of "multidimensional seismic imaging" allows a team to narrow down natural gas pocket areas, and then study the effects of time on the reserve. Once a profitable pocket is found and studied, a drilling rig will be brought in and will drill a hole to the necessary depth to obtain the natural gas. This allows modern drilling rigs to be used for another purpose other than finding petroleum reserves. In some cases, natural gas is as abundant as the oil and both are extracted at the same time.

Although an abundance of natural gas exists onshore, a large part of it is being produced offshore. To help this shift, new technology is allowing wells to be drilled in ever increasing water depths up to 10,000 feet. These deep water wells are producing large quantities of natural gas, and most of the natural gas production is now shifting to ultra deep water reserves. Another large step in technology is the ability to join the onshore LNG and offshore LNG production equipment. This allows production costs to be drastically decreased due to the standardization of machinery and equipment necessary.

As far as commercial uses for natural gas, there are concerned there are quite ranging from office buildings, schools, churches, hotels, restaurants, churches, and many other organizations . Currently 13 percent of commercial buildings use natural gas for cooling purposes, but this number will soon skyrocket due to the new technology that is allowing unit costs to decrease and efficiency to increase. A large commercial growth area to watch is the restaurant industry. The forecast for this industries use of natural gas is expected to increase dramatically due to the growing popularity of cooking using natural gas, and the very low cost of it.

LNG is produced in Alaska, Algeria, Australia, Egypt, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nigeria, Oman, Qatar, Trinidad and elsewhere. Typically, LNG production areas are rich in natural gas reserves, but have little or no access to local markets are pipelines. New liquefaction plants are being developed today in Angola, Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria, Norway, Peru, Russia and Venezuela, among others. Once in its liquid state, LNG is much more movable. There are three main ways LNG can be transported, by vehicles, tankers, and pipelines, both intrastate and interstate. First, the trucks; the cheapest and easiest method for loading, delivering, and discharging LNG. LNG is transported in large trucks and is stored at atmospheric pressure inside a tank that acts as a thermos bottle. Because LNG is not kept under pressure, it slowly evaporates in a process called boil off. The reason it keeps liquid is because as it evaporates, it draws heat from itself, keeping LNG at the necessary -260 degrees.

Second, the large tankers. About 160 tankers specifically designed for LNG are in use today, with many more being built. LNG ships have one inch thick hulls that are 20 feet apart and heavily reinforced. Within the inner hull, there can be up to 5 isolated LNG tanks. Storing LNG inside the hull limits the volume of a potential accidental release an accidental releases potential volume. These double-hulled tankers can carry up to 137,000 cubic meters of LNG. LNG tankers are usually much more environmentally safe since the ships use natural gas instead of oil as their source of propulsion.

The pipeline is the most complex of the three, since it is the only one with various designs. The three are: the gathering system, the interstate pipeline, and the distribution system. The gathering system can range from basic to complex. The basic part of it is that it is a low pressure system with small diameter pipes that move the raw gas from where it is pulled, the well head, to its semi-final destination, the processing plant.

The complex part of it is the possibility that it may contain high levels of sulfur or carbon dioxide. When this happens, it is called sour gas. Because sour gas is very corrosive and even more dangerous, a special high priced gas gathering pipe but be added into the pipe line. Also, instead of going straight to the processing phase, it must first be sweetened, meaning it is to be cleansed of all other substances other than the raw natural gas.

The interstate (state to state or even clear across the country) or intrastate (within a particular state) system is much more complex seeing that the LNG travels at a pressure ranging from 200 to 1500 PSI with compressor stations every 40 to 100 miles to ensure that the LNG is at a high enough PSI. The gathering system consists of low pressure, low diameter pipelines that transport raw natural gas from the wellhead to the processing plant. Should natural gas from a particular well have high sulfur and carbon dioxide contents (sour gas), a specialized sour gas gathering pipe must be installed. Sour gas is extremely corrosive and dangerous, thus its