The most profitable, environmentally friendly and important fuel today is natural gas. What is this substance? Where does the origin of natural gas come from and what are its features? It is important and necessary to know this, because how long this raw material will last is a global issue for all countries of the world. These issues will be discussed in this article.
Natural gas: general characteristics of composition
This compound is commonly referred to in chemistry as methane, which has the formula CH4. However, this is not entirely true. After all, natural gas is a mineral product of our Earth. And it cannot be absolutely pure. It is a chemical mixture of many gaseous products. Among them, one can clearly identify the organic component and the inorganic.
The former include such low molecular weight gases as:
- methane;
- butane;
- propane.
To the second more variety of products:
- hydrogen sulfide impurities;
- hydrogen;
- helium;
- nitrogen;
- carbon dioxide.
Therefore, the properties of thisSubstances cannot be determined by only one dominant alkane in the composition. Impurities also have a strong influence on them. However, the origin of natural gas is well known to people who work with it. Therefore, cleaning methods for use have long been developed and introduced into wide use.
Physical properties
It won't take many paragraphs to describe the properties of this compound.
- Density varies depending on the state of aggregation, as this product can liquefy when pressure increases.
- At 6500 0C is capable of spontaneous combustion, therefore it is explosive.
- When mixed with air in certain proportions, it also has an explosive character.
- Almost twice as light as air, therefore able to escape into the upper atmosphere.
There is also a special feature that makes natural gas fields much wider than they could be. It is able to be in the state of a solid body in the composition of the earth's crust. More on this below.
Methods of formation or origin of natural gas
Several basic options can be identified in which the formation and accumulation of the substance in question occurs.
- The process of decomposition of living beings as a result of the end of their life. This is what biogenic theory says. This path is calculated in thousands and millions of years, but as a result, it led to the accumulation of huge amounts of natural gas on our planet.planet.
- Formation of gas hydrate complexes concentrated mainly underground. This process became possible only due to the selection of certain thermodynamic parameters. However, in the 20th century, it was proved that such gas deposits exist and their quantities are simply amazing in their scale. Even permafrost preserves natural gas in its depths in a solid state.
- The origin of natural gas from space as a result of a series of specific reactions. It has now been proven that almost all planets in our system contain this gas.
No matter how it was formed, one thing remains the same: its reserves are huge, but exhaustible.
Major world deposits
World natural gas reserves are estimated at 200.363 trillion m3. This data is up to 2013. Of course, the figure is striking in its grandeur. But do not forget about his expenses, which are also numerous. About 3,646 billion m33 of this unique natural resource is mined worldwide every year.
The main natural gas deposits in the world are located in the following countries:
- Russia;
- Iran;
- Qatar;
- Turkmenistan;
- USA;
- Saudi Arabia;
- United Arab Emirates;
- Venezuela and others.
Here only the largest countries where this mineral can be mined are indicated. In general, there are places where this product is concentratedin 101 countries.
If we call the areas of deposits themselves, then the following are considered the largest of them:
- Hassi-Rmel (Algeria);
- Shah Deniz (Azerbaijan);
- Groningen (Netherlands);
- Dhirubhai (India);
- North/South Pars (Qatar and Iran respectively);
- Urengoy (Russia);
- Galkynysh (Turkmenistan).
These are not just large, but gigantic and super-giant places, where most of the earth's natural gas is concentrated.
Natural gas fields in Russia
If we talk about our country, we can name about 14 sources of this unique raw material. The largest are:
- Urengoy;
- Leningradskoye;
- Yamburg;
- Shtokman;
- Bovanenkovo;
- Polar.
Eight more have not so massive reserves, but are also very important for the well-being of our country. In general, natural gas deposits in Russia are the most numerous compared to other countries of the world. So many sources, as in our region, there is nowhere.
Forecasts of gas reserves in the world
From the figures given above in the article about gas production and consumption, as well as about the quantities of its reserves, it is obvious that the approximate time of use of all sources will be about 55 years! This is very small, so work is underway in this area.
Experts predict the same for oil. An interesting fact is that the bulk of this raw material remains hidden.from human prey in permafrost and at the bottom of the oceans in the form of gas hydrate layers. If scientists manage to solve the problem of their processing and develop extraction methods, then both the gas and oil problems will be solved for many years to come.
But so far it remains only a hope and a dream, faith in the bright minds and insight of the scientists of our world.
Mining methods
Natural gas production is carried out according to certain techniques and methods. The thing is that the depth of its occurrence can reach several kilometers. Such conditions require a specially designed program and new, modern and powerful equipment.
The production technique is based on creating a pressure difference in the gas reservoir and the outside atmospheric air. As a result, with the help of a well, the product is pumped out of the places of occurrence, and the reservoir is saturated with water.
Wells are drilled along a certain trajectory resembling a ladder. This is done because:
- this saves space and preserves the integrity of materials during production, as gas impurities (hydrogen sulfide, for example) are very harmful to equipment;
- this allows to distribute the pressure on the formation more evenly;
- this way you can penetrate to a depth of 12 km, which allows you to study the lithospheric composition of the earth's interior.
As a result, natural gas production is becoming quite successful, uncomplicated and well organized. Once the product has been retrieved, it is shipped to its destination. If it's a chemical plant, thenthere it is cleaned and prepared for further use in various industries.
In particular, for domestic purposes, you need not only to clean the product, but also add odorants to it - special substances that give a sharp unpleasant odor. This is done for safety reasons in case of leaks in the premises.
Gas transportation
After natural gas was formed, it was collected and prepared for transportation. It is carried out in many ways.
- Through the pipeline. The most common option, however, the most dangerous. In this case, it is the gaseous product that moves, which can cause a leak and an explosion. Therefore, there are compressor points along the entire route, the purpose of which is to maintain pressure for the normal promotion of the product.
- The use of gas carriers - special tankers capable of transporting liquefied material. This method is the safest, since in the liquid state the gas is not so explosive and incapable of self-ignition.
- Railway using tank cars.
The way gas is transported depends on the distance of the destination and the amount of product.
Environmental
From a natural perspective, there is no cleaner environmental fuel than natural gas. After all, the products of its combustion are water and carbon dioxide. No harmful emissions, no acid rain.
However, in this case, there is stillThe problem is the "greenhouse effect". It represents the accumulation of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, which provokes global climate change. Scientists from all countries are also working on this problem, since recently it has become more and more topical and relevant.
Nevertheless, gas and oil are still the main combustible minerals that serve humans as fuel.
