Natural gas is a complex mixture of various organic and inorganic components and component groups. A differentiation must be made between flammable hydrocarbons as the actual source of energy and non-flammable components. The wide range of components makes it difficult to reliable determine natural gas quantitatively and quantitatively. For this application, Modcon offers complete natural gas laboratories equipped with modern analytical instruments and everything needed for fast and accurate analysis of sample probes from the gas pipeline.
Parameters Determined in a Natural Gas Laboratory
The typical natural gas laboratory is designed to determine the following parameters as exactly as possible:
- Upper Calorific Value- CV, which is the latent energy content of a gas that is released during combustion. It is the major variable when defining the price
- Concentration of Sulphur compounds. Hydrogen Sulphide and Mercaptans are partially present as natural compounds and sometimes they are mixed with the gas together with other Sulphur compounds as odorants
- Hydrocarbon Dew Point is a temperature at which higher hydrocarbons condense. The liquid phase is produced in the gas pipeline if the hydrocarbon dew point has fallen below. The accumulation of liquid in the pipelines can lead to a plug flow and may destroy the compressors in the pumping station
- Water Dew Point is the temperature at which water condenses out. Water together with hydrocarbons favors the generation of solids, in particular during the decompression of gas from high-pressure pipelines. The solids block gas fittings, and the water is corrosive.
- Physical properties of gas condensate, such as boiling point, flash point, density, viscosity, etc.