Posted on 05/02/2011 5:24:23 AM PDT by thackney
With an increasing air of pessimism around the prospects for a pipeline to export natural gas from the North Slope, there is talk of alternatives for monetizing the vast quantities of gas stranded in Arctic Alaska.
One alternative was discussed by Deo van Wijk, chairman of Swiss company Janus Methanol AG, before the state House Resources Committee. Van Wijk described the use of natural gas to synthetically produce gasoline for export from Valdez.
Gasoline production would involve two stages: production of methanol from natural gas on the North Slope, and production of gasoline from the methanol in Valdez. Methanol produced on the Slope would be blended with crude oil for transportation through the trans-Alaska oil pipeline to Valdez, where it would be distilled out of the oil for processing into gasoline.
TAPS antifreeze
In addition to providing a market outlet for North Slope gas, the proposal would boost the volumes of fluid flowing down the trans-Alaska pipeline. Because methanol is an excellent antifreeze, the mix would help prevent problems with ice forming in the line, van Wijk said.
The processes involved are already in commercial operation in several parts of the world, van Wijk said. Economies of scale require gas supplies of at least 640 million cubic feet a day, he said.
The two-stage process of manufacturing gasoline from natural gas is an alternative to the perhaps more familiar gas-to-liquids, or GTL, process, in which natural gas is converted to a fluid very similar to diesel fuel. But GTL produces wax as a byproduct, and wax can cause problems with pipeline clogging, van Wijk said.
Exxon originally developed the process, known as MTG, and successfully constructed an MTG plant in New Zealand in the 1980s, van Wijk said. However, falling oil prices in the 1990s rendered that plant uneconomic...
(Excerpt) Read more at adn.com ...
What is the flash point of gasoline ?
Faster, please.
Swissfirmshowsplantoturnnaturalgasintogasoline
Does that help?
Yes you should.
Electrical Electrical Supply: 240 VAC / 60 HZ. Electrical Consumption During Fueling: 0.8kwh (average). General Purpose Electrical Rating. http://www.wisegasinc.com/wg-phill.htm
I don’t think that the flashpoint illustrates the issue very well, nevertheless gasoline has a flashpoint of -43 F.
By way of comparison, propane, which is much safer to handle than natural gas, has a flashpoint of -156 F.
Imagine this: carry a open can of gasoline out on your patio. Then, take the cylinder of propane (something many times safer than liquid natural gas) and open the valve.
One of those will vaporize slowly in the sun, and, if in an enclosed sapce may even cause an explosion when lit. The other is so dangerous that to even get close to to it when light the venting may very well prove deadly, even in an open space.
Taking a WAG, liquified natural gas is 100, or even a 1,000 times as dangerous as either gasoline or propane.
Very interesting, even exciting.
I have been on the engineering design team for propane and natural gas facilities, including compression up to 5,000 psi.
You are very mistaken about propane versus natural gas safety. The National Fire Protection Agency writes codes that are used by the industry. In my career, I have had to read and utilize many of these codes.
Propane is far more dangerous. Most of that danger is created by being heavier than air. A leak in a methane system quickly rises ups and dissipates. Propane leaks puddle up and can create ignitable sources.
Thanks, I’m seeing that I need to reconsider.
Methane requires 5% before it become ignitable. It may seem like a small difference. However, with a small leak that is difficult to discover, the propane is accumulating and the methane is dissipating.
I'm not trying to suggest that propane in vehicle sized fuel containers is too dangerous to use. I'm trying to suggest that methane is even safer than the propane we are already used to handling.
The pressure required for CNG has reason for safety precautions and strict design requirements. But it is no different than systems we commonly used for acetylene welding, a far more dangerous gas.
It’s my experience with acetylene, LP, and gasoline since a young boy that formed my opinions.
Thanks for the posts, I appreciate hearing from someone close to the subject at hand.
There isn’t enough information there to make a determination about compression energy required vs. compressed gas produced.
That looks like it was put together by a marketer, and not an engineer.
But I have done several industrial compressed storage facilities, compressing for storage above 3,000 psi. We don't get close to a tenth of the value of the gas.
The first reading through the NFPA propane codes made me nervous. The section of fire fighting dealt strongly with first knowing if you should leave or fight the fire. That is good advice for any oil/gas industrial complex fire, but the strong descriptions of how fast and how large a fire ball could be created was unlike any of the other codes. The only thing I remember close to it was a boil-over event of floating roof tanks. But those were still an order of magnitude smaller, in my opinion.
Propane puddles when spilled. Nat gas is lighter than air, thus is the safer product.
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