Natural gas, transportation, distribution

See also Biofuels Capital Investment Decisions Climatic Effects Natural Gas, Consumption of Natural Gas, Processing and Conversion of Natural Gas, Transportation, Distribution, and Storage of... 

The final link in the physical transportation of natural gas IS distribution, the delivery of natural gas by local distribution customers (LDCs) to local consumers. LDCs deliver gas to consumers from storage or from wellheads accessed by pipelines. 

By the Ministerial Decree of 24th November 1984 "Fire-prevention Safety Standards for the transportation, distribution, storage and use of natural gas of a density no greater than 0.8 and subsequent modifications" the natural gas transportation and distribution pipelines are classified into 7 categories, on the basis of the different maximum operating pressures. 

The natural gas transportation infrastructure of Brazil comprises a network of 5,433.2 km of pipelines that distributes domestic and imported natural gas, and a transport capacity of 71.5 milhon cubic meters per day. Approximately 35% of natural gas grid transporting is in the Northeast region. 

In Brazil, the sectors of natural gas transport and distribution infrastructure have different regulatory bodies. The regulation of the activity of transporting namral gas falls to the National Agency of Petroleum, Namral Gas and Biofuels (ANP in Port.). However, the activity of gas distribution is a responsibility of state governments, which may form one or more distributors in their area and grant the provision of services to a state or private company, and keep regulation as their activity. 

Exploration and production companies explore for these deposits by using complex technologies to identify prospective drilling locations. Once extracted, the natural gas is processed to eliminate other gases, water, sand, and other impurities. Some hydrocarbon gases, such as butane and propane, are captured and marketed separately. Once it has been processed, the cleaned natural gas is distributed through a system of pipelines across thousands of miles (USEIA, 2007). It is through these pipelines that natural gas is transported to its endpoint for residential, commercial, and industrial use. 

Commercially pure (< 99.997%) helium is shipped directiy from helium-purification plants located near the natural-gas supply to bulk users and secondary distribution points throughout the world. Commercially pure argon is produced at many large air-separation plants and is transported to bulk users up to several hundred kilometers away by tmck, by railcar, and occasionally by dedicated gas pipeline (see Pipelines). Normally, only cmde grades of neon, krypton, and xenon are produced at air-separation plants. These are shipped to a central purification faciUty from which the pure materials, as well as smaller quantities and special grades of helium and argon, are then distributed. Radon is not distributed commercially. 

The mature Haber-Bosch technology is unlikely to change substantiaHy in the foreseeable future. The centers for commercial ammonia production may, however, relocate to sites where large quantities of natural gas are flared from cmde oil production, eg, Saudi Arabia or Venezuela. Relocation would not offset the problems for agriculture of high transportation and storage costs for ammonia production and distribution. Whereas the development of improved lower temperature and pressure catalysts is feasible, none is on the horizon as of this writing. 

Transportation of natural gas across state lines from production to consuming areas is a function of interstate pipeline companies. The modern U.S. natural gas industry also includes natural gas exploration and production companies, intrastate pipelines, local distribution companies (LDCs), end-users and, the most recent addition to the industry, marketers. 

The first major federal regulatory event affecting natural gas pipelines was the Natural Gas Act of 1938, which gave the Federal Power Commission jurisdiction to regulate three areas (1) pipeline sales of gas purchased from producers and resold to local distribution companies in interstate commerce (2) transportation m interstate commerce and (3) the facilities used for such sales and such transportation. 

Pipelines have a long history. In ancient times, pipelines were used for water transport. Examples are still visible in archeologic areas. However, it is clear that these early constructions could not bear large pressures. The advent of gas pipelines started between 1820 and 1830 with the distribution of town gas. Nowadays pipelines are indispensable in petroleum industries for the transport of various materials, including natural gas, crude oil of various types, and refined products. 

For the calculations, it has been assumed that LPG is derived from natural gas processing. Natural gas is extracted from natural gas fields in the North Sea. The separated LPG is liquefied and transported via ship across a distance of 1000 km to the coast and distributed to filling stations via truck across an average distance of 500 km. 

For WTW analysis, it is a sufficiently accurate assumption, that natural gas mainly consists of methane (CFI4). Compressed natural gas is also referred to as CNG . Natural gas is extracted, processed, transported and distributed via pipeline to the filling stations, where it is compressed to about 25 MPa. Natural gas sources may vary for different countries. Depending on the source (natural gas quality) and the transport distance (e.g., 4000 km or even 7000 km from Russia, depending on the relevant gas fields) the auxiliary energy needs or energy losses, and hence the GHG-relevant emissions can vary. For the calculation of the energy requirement and GHG emissions for the supply of natural gas, a transport distance of 4000 km is assumed. 

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