Faculty of Engineering

Master Program in Hydrocarbons Processing Engineering

Subject: Global Energy Industry

Natural Gas:

OPTIONS FOR ENERGY CARRIERS, ENERGY

STORAGE, TRANSPORTATION AND
DISTRIBUTION TO THE END CUSTOMER

Lecturers: Prof. Gideon Botes

Prof. Doutor Carlos Lucas

Prof. Doutor Geraldo Nhumaio

Student Name: Salvador Eugénio Mate

Maputo, December 2017

 Table of Contents

1. INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................... 1
1.1. Objectives ........................................................................................................... 1
1.2. Methodology ....................................................................................................... 2
2. NATURAL GAS ........................................................................................................ 2
2.1. Origin of Natural Gas .......................................................................................... 2
2.2. Use of Natural Gas ............................................................................................. 3
2.3. Advantages and Disadvantages of Natural Gas ................................................. 4
3. NATURAL GAS-ENERGY CARRIERS .................................................................... 5
3.1. Liquefied Natural Gas ......................................................................................... 5
3.2. Compressed Natural Gas ................................................................................... 6
4. NATURAL GAS STORAGE FACILITIES ................................................................. 7
4.1. Underground Storage Facilities .......................................................................... 7
4.1.1. Depleted Reservoirs .................................................................................... 8
4.1.2. Aquifer reservoirs ......................................................................................... 9
4.1.3. Salt caverns ................................................................................................. 9
4.2. Aboveground storage facilities ......................................................................... 11
4.2.1. Gasholders................................................................................................. 11
4.2.2. Pipeline capacity ........................................................................................ 11
4.2.3. LNG Storage Tanks ................................................................................... 12
5. TRANSPORTATION AND DISTRIBUTION OF NATURAL GAS........................... 13
5.1. Transporting natural gas using Pipeline ........................................................... 13
5.2. Virtual pipeline .................................................................................................. 15
5.2.1. LNG Transport ........................................................................................... 15
5.2.2. CNG Transport........................................................................................... 16
6. CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................ 17
7. REFERENCES ....................................................................................................... 18
List of Tables

Table 1: Chemical composition of natural gas ................................................................. 2

Table 2: Natural gas use in Europe by sector .................................................................. 4

Table 3: Types of underground storage, their Advantages and Disadvantages ............ 10

List of Figures

Figure 1: Conventional and unconventional gas reservoirs ............................................. 3

Figure 2: Natural gas underground storage facilities capacity. ........................................ 8

Figure 3: Types of underground storage facilities ............................................................ 9

Figure 4: gasholder ........................................................................................................ 11

Figure 5: Single Containment LNG tank (at left) and full containment LNG tank. .......... 13

Figure 6: Gas pipeline Ressano-Garcia Maputo: construction phase ............................ 15

Figure 7: LNG Transport options ................................................................................... 16

Figure 8: CNG Transport, Matola Gas Company........................................................... 16

 Natural Gas: Options for energy carriers, energy storage, transportation and distribution to the
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1. INTRODUCTION

In the current century, Natural gas has become the most important fossil energy
resource and also the most important energy fuel in general. And this is both due
significant resources, especially of unconventional natural gas, and development of new
technologies for transport and distribution, but also the level of carbon dioxide
emissions from burning natural gas.
The development of gas energy industry in the last decade is caused by many
factors, such as: introduction, on a large scale, of convenient gas cycle technologies
(combination of steam and gas turbines), achievement of high performance cycles (over
50%), in comparison with nuclear and hydro-power plants, natural gas plants have
lower investment and exploitation costs, shorter construction and start-up time, less
complex design, simpler constructions and installations (Siemek & Nagy, 2012).
Another factor that has led to the rapid development of the gas industry in the last
decade is the development of liquefied natural gas technology (LNG) and LNG markets
mean that regional gas trade is beginning to have a global dimension.
Transporting natural gas from the fields of exploitation to the processing or
distribution plants as well as storing the gas (to respond to periods of high demand, or
for economic reasons) is not an easy task and requires the development of appropriate
infrastructures. Gas is difficult to store or transport because of its physical nature and
needs high pressures and/or low temperatures to increase the bulk density, whereas oil
is readily stored in large, relatively simple and cheap tanks and then transported in huge
tankers. Gas, as a result of the storage difficulties, needs to be transported immediately
to its destination after production from a reservoir.
This report focuses on the transport, storage and distribution systems for natural
gas and begins with a description of the most used energy carriers for natural gas.

1.1. Objectives
The overall objective of this project is to study the natural gas, from exploration
fields to the end customer. The specific objectives are:
 Study the main energy carriers for natural gas
 Investigate existing technologies for natural gas storage and their advantages
and disadvantages.
 Indentify de best technologies for natural gas transport and distribution

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1.2. Methodology
The accomplishment of the present report was preceded by a literature review,
analysis of the information obtained, and compilation of the final report.

2. NATURAL GAS
Natural gas (NG) is a mixture of gases which are rich in hydrocarbons. Is formed
deep underground, usually in areas around coal and oil. It is composed primarily of
methane. It does, however, contain other chemical species, such as butane and
propane. If the mixture is composed only of these species, it is called dry natural gas, as
there will be no liquid components at standard pressure and temperature. When higher
hydrocarbons are present, the NG is called wet. The typical chemical composition of
natural gas is given in Table1 (Demirbas, 2010).

Table 1: Chemical composition of natural gas1

Component Typical analysis (vol%) Range (vol%)

Methane 84.9 70.0-90.0
Ethane 2.5 1.8-5.1
Propane 0.2 0.1-1.5
Isobutane 0.03 0.01—0.3
n-Butane 0.03 0.01—0.3
Isopentane 0.01 Trace to 0.14
n-Pentane 0.01 Trace to 0.14
Hexane 0.01 Trace to 0.06
Nitrogen 1.6 1.3-5.6
Carbon dioxide 0.7 0.1-1.0
Oxygen 0.02 0.01-0.1
Hydrogen Trace Trace to 0.02

2.1. Origin of Natural Gas

Natural gas is generally considered a non-renewable fossil fuel. It comes from
the decomposition of organic matter, just like oil and coal. Unlike oil and coal, though, it
can come from almost any organic matter, whereas coal comes only from plant matter
and oil comes almost exclusively from plankton and micro plankton remains. Natural
gas can come from both of these sources as well. Decay and millions of years of
geological stresses have transformed the complicated organic compounds that once
made up living plants or animals into a mixture of alkanes (Kvenvolden, 1993).

1
Available on http://www.springer.com/978-1-84882-871-1, accessed on 05/12/2017
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Gas is extracted by drilling wells into the ground, through the geographic layers,
to reach the gas deposits. The gas industry often talks about two main types of natural
gas, which actually have nothing to do with the gas itself, but rather where it’s found
Kvenvolden, 1993):
 Conventional gas: Is found in large permeable sandstone reservoirs and is easier
to get out of the ground through traditional well-drilling techniques.
 Unconventional gas: Is just standard natural gas, but found in places other than
permeable sandstone reservoirs. There are two main types of unconventional
gas:
 Coal seam gas (CSG), found in coal deposits, usually 200 to 1,000 meters
below the ground.
 Shale gas, found in shale rock deposits. The wells for extracting this gas
are generally a lot deeper than those for CSG.

Figure 1: Conventional and unconventional gas reservoirs

Available on https://www.google.co.mz/search?q=conventional+and+unconventional+sources

2.2. Use of Natural Gas

In the early days of the NG industry, the gas was mainly used to light
streetlamps, and the occasional house. However, with much improved distribution
channels and technological advancements, natural gas is being used in ways never
thought possible. Natural gas is one of the most widely used sources of energy today. It
is commonly used to heat and cool homes and businesses. Natural gas is a very
versatile fuel which can be used for space and water heating, which have traditionally
been the predominant uses of natural gas (EIA, 2002).

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In the future, increasing concerns about urban air pollution may lead to increased
use of natural gas by industry and for electricity generation, cooking, mechanical power,
heating and transportation.
Natural gas is used by industrial, residential, electricity generation, commercial,
and transportation sectors. Table 2 shows natural gas use by sector in Europe. The
industrial sector accounts for the greatest proportion of natural gas use, with the
residential sector consuming the second-greatest quantity of natural gas (Demirbas,
2010).
Table 2: Natural gas use in Europe by sector (Demirbas, 2010)

Use2 Percentage of
Sector
(%) total3
Industrial 43 38
Residential 22 25
Electricity generation 18 20
Commercial 14 15
Transportation 3 2

2.3. Advantages and Disadvantages of Natural Gas

Like other fuels, natural gas has its advantages and disadvantages (Siemek,
2012).
The main advantages of natural gas are:
 It’s environmentally friendly: Natural gas tops other fossil fuels when it comes to
clean burning. Since the process of natural gas combustion is almost up to the
mark, the level of byproducts disseminated to the environmental is little. In
addition, advances in technologies have massively reduced nitrogen oxide, a
common pollutant emitted by natural gas.
 Natural gas is reliable: Natural gas occurs underneath the surfaces of the earth,
which means, when storms come, the delivery will not be impacted in any way.
 Increase efficient utilization of electricity and cooling system by 80% while the
conventional system has 50% efficiency.
 Increase alternative of energy sources for buildings instead of electricity alone.
The buildings can choose to use either natural gas or electricity or both.
 Is a versatile fuel: Can be used in different ways, such as: heat production,
electricity, transportation, etc.
The main disadvantages of Natural gas are:

2
Refers to the percentage of natural gas used in each sector.
3
Refers to the percentage of natural gas used in each sector in relation to all energy sources.
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 It’s highly combustible: Because natural gas is highly combustible, mishandling

can lead to bad explosions. The main problem with natural gas is that it is
odourless and leaks cannot be detected unless some odorant has been added to
it.
 Is a non-renewable energy source: Because once consumed, cannot be replaced
in Human scale.
 Natural gas emits some quantities of greenhouse gas: The biggest downside to
natural gas is that it emits carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, which contributes
to climate change and global warming.
 Is difficult to store and transport:
3. NATURAL GAS-ENERGY CARRIERS
Energy carrier is a substance (energy form) or sometimes a phenomenon
(energy system) that contains energy that can be later converted to other forms such
as mechanical work or heat or to operate chemical or physical processes. Energy
carriers include electricity and heat as well as solid, liquid and gaseous fuels. They
occupy intermediate steps in the energy-supply chain between primary sources and
end-user applications. An energy carrier is thus a transmitter of energy. The main
energy carriers for NG are classified according is state of aggregation in (IPCC, 2007):
 Liquid Phase carriers: Liquefied natural gas (LNG), Liquefied petrol gas (LPG),
gas to liquid (GTL- alcohols, like methanol).
 Gas Phase carriers: Methane and Hydrogen
 Compressed natural gas (CNG)

3.1. Liquefied Natural Gas

Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is natural gas that has been processed to remove
valuable components, like helium, or impurities and then condensed into a liquid by
cooling it to approximately -260° Fahrenheit (-162°C). This process reduces its volume
by a factor of more than 600.
One property which differentiates LNG from LPG is the low critical temperature,
about 200 K. This means that natural gas cannot be liquefied at ordinary temperatures
simply by increasing the pressure, as is the case with LPG; instead, natural gas must be
cooled to cryogenic temperatures (very low temperatures) to be liquefied and must be
well insulated to be held in the liquid state. The reduction in volume makes natural gas

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much more cost-efficient to transport over long distances where pipelines do not exist
(Siemek & Nagy, 2012).

3.2. Compressed Natural Gas

Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) is natural gas fuel that has been compressed to
less than 1% of its volume (at standard atmospheric pressure), making naturally
odorless, colorless and gaseous (Demirbas, 2010).
Advantages of CNG:
 Natural gas is significantly less expensive than gasoline.
 CNG is more eco-friendly than gasoline. Natural gas produces far fewer harmful
emissions and hydrocarbons than gasoline.
 Using CNG makes the engine cleaner and more efficient. Unlike gasoline, CNG
minimizes harmful carbon deposits when combusted. This results to a cleaner
and more efficient engine as well as longer lasting spark plugs. Oil changes are
also minimized because of carbon deposits that contaminate the oil is eliminated.
 CNG has higher Octane levels averaging over 120 Octane.
Disadvantages of CNG:
 CNG tanks require storage space. You may need to sacrifice some of the space
in the trunk (for cars), truck bed (for pickup trucks) or behind the back seat (for
SUVs).
 CNG Filling stations have limited availability.

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4. NATURAL GAS STORAGE FACILITIES

Natural gas, like most other commodities, can be stored for an indefinite period of
time. The exploration, production, and transportation of NG takes time, and the natural
gas that reaches its destination is not always needed right away, therefore must be
stored. NG storage provides the means for balancing between steady production and
variable demand. There are two categories of natural gas storage facilities,
aboveground storage facilities and underground storage facilities (FRC, 2004).

4.1. Underground Storage Facilities

Underground storage is the primary means for storing natural gas and offers both
seasonal and high-deliverability storage. Underground natural gas storage systems
were established as a cost-effective way to meet high demand during winter without
increasing pipeline capacity. There are three main types of underground storage:
depleted reservoirs, aquifer reservoirs, and salt caverns.
Geology is a key issue for determining the location of new traditional
underground storage projects and the expansion of existing projects. There are areas
that have the geological characteristics to construct storage fields; other areas do not.
Selection of any new underground gas storage location depends on geological and
engineering properties of the storage reservoir, its size and its cushion, or base, gas
requirements. It also depends on the site’s access to transportation pipeline
infrastructure, gas production sources, and to markets (API, 2013).

Natural Gas Storage Measures

Several volumetric measures are used to quantify the fundamental

characteristics of an underground storage facility and the gas contained within it. For
some of these measures, it is important to distinguish between the characteristic of a
facility, such as its capacity, and the characteristic of the natural gas within the facility
such as the actual inventory level. These measures are as follows (EIA, 2010):
Total natural gas storage capacity: is the maximum volume of natural gas that can be
stored in an underground storage facility.
Cushion Gas (or base gas): is the volume of natural gas intended as permanent
inventory in a storage reservoir to maintain adequate pressure and deliverability rates
throughout the withdrawal season.

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Working gas: is the volume of gas in the reservoir above the level of base gas. Working
gas is available to the marketplace (how much gas can be retrieved).

Deliverability: is most often expressed as a measure of the amount of gas that can be
delivered (withdrawn) from a storage facility on a daily basis (how fast the gas can be
retrieved).
Injection capacity (or rate): is the complement of the deliverability or withdrawal rate–it is
the amount of natural gas that can be injected into a storage facility on a daily basis.
Geologically, depleted reservoir formations must have high permeability and
porosity. The porosity of the formation determines the amount of natural gas that it may
hold, while its permeability determines the rate at which natural gas flows through the
formation, which in turn determines the rate of injection and withdrawal of working gas.

4.1.1. Depleted Reservoirs

The most common underground gas storage facilities are those that use deep
underground natural gas or oil reservoirs that have been depleted through earlier
production. These reservoirs are naturally occurring, and their potential as secure
containers has been proven over the millennia that the reservoirs held their original
deposits of oil and gas. The working gas capacity is typically 50 percent, with the rest of
the capacity maintained to ensure adequate deliverability. Gas is typically withdrawn in
the winter season and injected during the summer season. This type of storage facility
could be used for seasonal system supply or for peak-day demands. The following
chart, based on the Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration (EIA),
shows that depleted reservoirs are the dominant type of underground storage based on
total capacity (FRC, 2004).

Aquifer Salt
reservoirs caverns
10% 4%

Depleted
reservoirs
86%

Figure 2: Natural gas underground storage facilities capacity.

Source: Energy Information Administration

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4.1.2. Aquifer reservoirs

Aquifers are underground porous, permeable rock formations that act as natural
water reservoirs. However, in certain situations, these water containing formations may
be reconditioned and used as natural gas storage facilities. As they are more expensive
to develop than depleted reservoirs, these types of storage facilities are usually used
only in areas where there are no nearby depleted reservoirs. Traditionally, these
facilities are operated with a single winter withdrawal period, although they may be used
to meet peak load requirements as well (FRC, 2004 & API, 2013).
Aquifers are the least desirable and most expensive type of natural gas storage
facility for a number of reasons. First, the geological characteristics of aquifer formations
are not as thoroughly known, as with depleted reservoirs. A significant amount of time
and money goes into discovering the geological characteristics of an aquifer, and
determining its suitability as a natural gas storage facility. In order to develop a natural
aquifer into an effective natural gas storage facility, all of the associated infrastructure
must also be developed. This includes installation of wells, extraction equipment,
pipelines, dehydration facilities, and possibly compression equipment.

Figure 3: Types of underground storage facilities

Available on https://www.google.co.mz/search?q=natural+gas+underground+storage

4.1.3. Salt caverns

Salt cavern storage involves a series of caverns leached out of the deep, thick
layers of rock salt. The caverns are created by injecting water to dissolve the salt which
is then extracted in the form of brine, now saline solution (brine), is pumped back to the
surface. The process continues until the cavern is the desired size

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Salt caverns are usually much smaller than depleted gas reservoir
and aquifer storage facilities. A salt cavern facility may occupy only 1/100 of the area
taken up by a depleted gas reservoir facility. Consequently, salt caverns cannot hold the
large volumes of gas necessary to meet base load storage requirements. Deliverability
from salt caverns is, however, much higher than for either aquifers or depleted
reservoirs (see table 3). This allows the gas stored in a salt cavern to be withdrawn and
replenished more readily and quickly. This quick cycle-time is useful in emergency
situations or during short periods of unexpected demand surges (FRC, 2004).

Table 3: Types of underground storage, their Advantages and Disadvantages (FRC,

2004)

Type Primary Storage Cushion Injection Withdrawal Advantages and

application need Gas (% of Period Period Disadvantages
Total (Days) (Days)
Capacity)

+ Simple and
relatively
Residential inexpensive to
Depleted Seasonal
and 50% 200–250 100–150 establish
Reservoir demand
Commercial
- Exist in limited
geography

- Less retrievable

Residential gas, large cushion

Aquifer Seasonal required
and 50%–80% 200–250 100–150
Reservoir demand
Commercial - Exist in limited
geography

Short- + High deliverability

Salt Power term - Exist in limited
20%–30% 20–40 10–20
Cavern Generation variable geography - High
demand capital cost

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4.2. Aboveground storage facilities

4.2.1. Gasholders
Gasholder is a large container in which natural gas is stored near atmospheric
pressure at ambient temperatures. The volume of the container follows the quantity of
stored gas, with pressure coming from the weight of a movable cap. Typical volumes for
large gas holders are about 50,000 cubic meters. Gasholder has high deliverability than
underground storage facilities, because the container volume equal to the amount of
gas that can be stored, do not require cushion gas.
Gasholders were introduced at the beginning of the nineteenth century for
storage of locally produced coal gas, which was used for the public illumination and
later for domestic use.

Figure 4: gasholder, (at right-is under construction)

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas_holder

4.2.2. Pipeline capacity

Gas pipelines do not only serve as transportation links between producer and
consumer, but they also represent potential storage units for safety stocks. That is, due
to the compressible nature of dry gas, large reserves can be stored on a short-term
basis inside the pipeline through a process called line packing. This is accomplished by
injecting more gas into the pipelines during off peak times by increasing the gas
pressure, and by withdrawing larger amounts of gas during periods of high demand
when flow capacities elsewhere in the system break down (Roger & Conrado 2014).
To understand this, let’s consider the next example. Let us suppose that there is
a unique transmission line between one producer and one costumer, and let us assume
that the amount of gas required by the client during several consecutive periods can
easily be satisfied with only 70% of the maximum capacity. An obvious solution is

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simply to send the required amount for the mentioned periods. However, let us assume
that the demand increases up to 130% of maximum capacity for some subsequent
period. Here, the producer cannot meet such requirement, thus leading to considerable
economic losses. Hence, the strategic idea would be to send for instance 100% of the
maximum capacity, then consuming just the required demand in each period, and
storing the remaining gas to satisfy future extraordinary requirements.

4.2.3. LNG Storage Tanks

A liquefied natural gas storage tank is a specialized type of storage tank used for
the storage of LNG. LNG storage tanks can be found in ground, above ground or
in LNG carriers. The common characteristic of LNG Storage tanks is the ability to store
LNG at the very low temperature (-162°C), for that, use insulation materials. The most
common tank types are: the single containment tank, double containment tank and full
containment tank (CB&I, 2017).
Single Containment LNG Tanks
Ideal when land availability is not an issue, this is the most economical and
common solution for LNG storage. This type is typically designed with a primary liquid
containment open-top inner tank, a carbon steel primary vapor containing outer tank,
and an earthen dike for secondary liquid containment.
Double Containment LNG Tanks
This type has a secondary containment steel or concrete dike wall close to the
vapor containing outer tank. It is designed and constructed to contain possible loss of
liquid from the inner tank, but not to contain product vapor resulting from unlikely
leakage. A double containment tank reduces land requirements and can provide
additional resistance to external loads.
Full Containment LNG Tanks
Typically designed and constructed as a primary liquid containment open-top
inner tank and a concrete outer tank, the outer tank serves as primary vapor
containment and secondary liquid containment. In the unlikely event of a leak, the outer
tank contains the liquid and provides controlled release of the vapor. Like double
containment, this tank reduces land requirements and provides additional resistance to
external loads. Full containment is most often utilized on tight sites, when external
design events require added resistance and /or when required by regulatory or
customer provisions.

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Figure 5: Single Containment LNG tank (at left) and full containment LNG tank. (Source
https://www.cbi.com/)

5. TRANSPORTATION AND DISTRIBUTION OF NATURAL GAS

In introduction we said that, gas is difficult to store because of its physical nature
and needs high pressures and/or low temperatures to increase the bulk density, as a
result of the storage difficulties, needs to be transported immediately to its destination
after production from a reservoir.
There are several methods for transporting natural gas, from production fields to
final costumers. These methods can be divided in two groups: pipeline transport
systems and virtual pipeline system. The virtual pipeline transport includes LNG carrier
and CNG carrier. Other forms of natural gas transport do not transport natural gas in its
original form, but rather transforms into other products such as electricity, methanol,
hydrates, etc (Thomas & Dawe, 2003).

5.1. Transporting natural gas using Pipeline

Currently, pipelines are used both offshore and onshore, with a remarkable
difference in terms of security and construction prices. Building pipeline systems under
the sea is highly costly and technically demanding, a lot more than onshore.
There are essentially three major types of pipelines (usually buried underground)
along the transportation lines, ranging in size from 4 inches to 48 inches in diameter
(100 to 1,220 mm): gathering systems, transmission systems, and distribution systems
(Thomas & Dawe, 2003).
Gathering Systems: Gathering lines are pipelines that collect gas from multiple
flow lines, which in turn are connected to a single wellhead in a production field. Flow

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lines are composed of narrow pipelines typically buried 4ft underground and working at
a roughly 250 psi pressure.
Transmission Systems: A transmission line is a pipeline mainly used to transport
large amounts of natural gas across long distances from a gathering, processing or
storage facility to a distribution system, which may include far-away storage facilities
and large-volume customers (power plants, petrochemical facilities, and gas institutional
users that are not downstream from a distribution center).
Distribution systems: Distribution lines, also known as “main”, are pipelines used
to supply natural gas to end users. They are part of a network system of piping located
downstream of a natural gas transmission line, i.e., they are the middle step between
high pressure pipelines and low pressure service pipelines. Natural gas distribution
systems are small- to mid-size pipelines (ranging from 2 inches to 20 inches in
diameter) which are constructed out of plastic, cast iron, and steel. They are usually
installed underground along streets and roadways.
The natural gas transportation system is not only composed of pipeline, there are
other components, called transmission network components, such as:
Compressor Stations: compressor stations play a crucial role in the natural gas
industry, increase the pressure of natural gas by reducing its volume, thus providing the
required propel force or boost to keep it moving along the transmission line.
Gate Settings: Gate settings are installed periodically (about every 10 miles)
along the natural gas transmission system to help control the gas flow when, e.g., a
particular section of the pipeline must be isolated for safety reasons or due to a
scheduled maintenance. These are specific locations where the gas streams can be
stopped by closing a valve, and are usually bounded by fences to prevent unauthorized
operation of the valves.
Valves and Regulators: Components in a pipeline system. They are installed for
operational and safety reasons.

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Figure 6: Gas pipeline Ressano-Garcia Maputo: construction phase (http://www.mgc.co.mz)

5.2. Virtual pipeline

The concept of virtual pipeline aims to distribute the natural gas to places where
the physical or economic conditions deem the installation of a real pipeline unfeasible.
The so called Virtual-Pipeline consists of the transportation of the Compressed Natural
Gas by pressure or liquefaction in the natural form at low temperatures (Udaeta et al.,
2012).

5.2.1. LNG Transport

Liquefied natural gas can be transported using trucks, train or ships. The LNG is
transported in towing trucks that carry more than 40 thousand liters, into small cistern
and towing trucks, railway wagons and methane ships for LNG with capacity reaching
114 million liters. The towing trucks for LNG are often used to resupply the LNG
stations, such as the delivery of gasoil or gasoline. The system consists of deposits of
LNG at the extremities of the “line”, and a series of vehicles making the transportation of
it. The same way as gasoline transportation is performed between the supplying
stations. Nevertheless, the components are a little more complex considering that the
LNG must be kept at low temperatures in order to avoid its evaporation (Thomas &
Dawe, 2003).
In the case of sea transport, ships are used. Once liquefied, natural gas is loaded
onto specially designed ships called LNG carriers. After its trip, the LNG is regasified at
a dedicated terminal.
There are two main types of LNG carrier presently in use:
 Carriers with insulated aluminum spherical tanks anchored to the ship's hull by a
steel skirt.
 Membrane carriers, whose tanks are part of the double hull structure.

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 Natural Gas: Options for energy carriers, energy storage, transportation and distribution to the
end customer

Despite the quality of the tank insulation system, however, a certain amount of
the LNG warms up and returns to a gaseous state. The boil-off rate amounts to roughly
0.15% per day. The boiled-off gas is recovered and used to power the ship’s engines.

Figure 7: LNG Transport options

5.2.2. CNG Transport

The supply of CNG in bulk consists of acquisition, receiving, compression,
storage, delivery, commercialization and quality control. The virtual pipeline system is
based on modular technology, which in turn allows scaling up of the system proportional
to the demand. The Virtua pipeline described here is based on 3 technological
developments, such as (Udaeta et al., 2012):
 Modular stations of CNG compression.
 Modular plants of pressure regulation.
 Modular system of Natural Gas storage and transport.

Figure 8: CNG Transport, Matola Gas Company (http://www.mgc.co.mz)

First, a compressor is installed. Later, the CNG loading platforms are set at the
place in a dispositive named STM (Storage and Transport Module). The STM are
carried by trucks and transported by land to the unload platforms. Together with the
unload platforms a controller plant which will reduce the outlet pressure (200 bar) to the
pressure at the distribution net (4 bar).At its arrival, the transport trailer interchanges the
empty STM from the consumer point by the filled ones. This interchange is executed by
means of TS machines (CNG Transport System) that are on the trailer.

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6. CONCLUSION
The main energy carriers for natural gas are: liquefied natural gas, compressed
natural and Methanol. Natural gas can be stored in Underground Storage Facilities
(depleted reservoirs, aquifer reservoirs, and salt caverns) and Aboveground Storage
Facilities (Gasholders or gasometer, Pipeline capacity and LNG facilities)

Transporting natural gas using CNG carriers are simpler than pipeline and LNG
carriers. The LNG transport system is more complicated, because the liquid must be
maintained at very low temperature.

Small volumes of intermittent gas are not economically attractive to the major gas
sellers, particularly for LNG facilities or pipelines. For the smaller markets, e.g. islands
where pipelines or LNG are not feasible, CNG can be economic potential transport
method.

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end customer

7. REFERENCES

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CB&I (2017). LNG Storage. A word of solutions.

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Demirbas, A. (2010). Fuel properties of hydrogen, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), and
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EIA, Energy Information Administration (2010).Underground Natural Gas Storage.”

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FRC, Federal Regulatory Commission (2004). Current State of and Issues Concerning:
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IPCC (2007). Mitigation of Climate Change-Energy carriers. Fourth assessment report

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Siemek, J. and Nagy, S. (2012). Energy carriers use in the world: natural gas –
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Thomas S. and Dawe R. (2003). Review of ways to transport natural gas energy from
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Udaeta M., Bernal J., Galvão L. and Grimoni J. (2012). Natural Gas Virtual-Pipeline for
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