Natural Gas Uses and Applications in Modern Life

Natural gas is gas which is an odourless, colourless, and highly flammable gaseous hydrocarbon, which makes it one of the most used energy sources across the world. It is a mixture of gases (rich in hydrocarbons). Reserves for natural gases are found deep inside the surface of the earth near other solid and liquid hydrocarbon beds such as coal and crude oil. Natural gas is used for many purposes and it is a type of fossil fuel used as a source for cooking, heating, and generating electricity. Natural gas is a non-renewable fuel that can be used as fuel for vehicles. Some common examples of natural gas are methane, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, etc.

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Natural Gas and Its Properties

Natural gas is a petroleum extract that is found deep beneath the earth's surface. They are found above the crude oil as it is lighter than the oil. It is performed by the same process in which petroleum is formed. This occurs due to high temperature and pressure which causes plant and animal fossils to get converted into petroleum and coal and they are found buried deep inside. It is often dissolved in the oil which occurs at high pressures that exist in reservoirs and above oil, it is found as a gas cap. At times, it is the natural gas pressure that lets the oil reservoir have a force to get the oil upon the surface. It is called the associated gas as the gaseous phase of crude oil has quantities of butane and propane. Some of the properties we can discuss the natural gases are as follows:

• This gas has been widely used since the 19th and 20th centuries for lighting households and streets.

• At present, it is widely used for wind and solar energy too and has various applications in these industries.

• It is used to move the turbines so as to obtain energy from wind and sunlight.

• It is used for ammonia production which can be used as fertilisers in the agriculture field.

• It has domestic uses too as they are used for heaters, ovens and even boilers.

• Compressed natural gas is stored at a very high pressure which is also sometimes used in households like heating and cooking food.

• CNG is eco-friendly and also low-cost which can be an alternative for other fuels needed for transportation that is harmful to the environment.

• Liquefied natural gas is used for powering heaving vehicles like off-road trucks and even trains.

1) Uses of natural gas at home

• Residential electricity can be useful in cleaning cleaner energy.

• Heating water at home as it is more economical and it heats faster than electricity.

• A heating building with a controllable burner is more convenient and efficient.

• Cooking on natural gas makes it more economical as it uses a lower amount of energy than an electric oven.

• Drying cloth as a natural gas clothes dryer is more cost-effective as it can up to more than 50 percent energy than its electric counterpart.

2) Uses of natural gas in the industrial sector

• Natural gas is used as raw material and also a heating source to produce chemicals, fertilisers, and hydrogen. 

• In the manufacturing industry as a heating source for glass, steel, brick, etc.

• Natural gas is used in manufacturing a huge range of chemicals such as acetic acid, ammonia, methanol, butane, propane, and ethane. 

• Natural gas is used in making glass, steel, cement, bricks, ceramics, tile, paper, food products, and many other commodities as a heat source. 

• It is also used at many industrial facilities for incineration. 

3) Uses of natural gas for transportation

• As a vehicle fuel as it is cheaper than other such products.

Advantages of Natural Gas

• Natural gas is highly flammable due to the high level of methane.

• Natural gas is colourless, tasteless, and odourless.

• In case of leakage, it can easily dissipate into the air as it has a lower density than that of the air.

• As natural gas has high methane and low carbon composition it is less corrosive.

• Natural gas is economical as it is less expensive than other burning fuels.

• Safer for domestic use as natural gas has lower density therefore in case of a leakage, it quickly dissipates in the air and doesn't let the surroundings to catch fire.

• The availability of natural gas is somewhat more than crude oil or other such products.

• Natural gas while burning has more efficiency compared to gas like propane gas.

• Natural gas can be delivered easily through a network of pipelines.

Disadvantages of Natural Gas

• Limited quantities: The problem in countries like India is that they don’t have vast reserves of natural gas which means that most of the natural gas that is consumed has to be bought from other countries. Which makes it a rather expensive proposition over time.

• Natural gas is highly combustible: Though natural gas is lighter than air, one cannot deny the fact that it is highly combustible. As natural gas is odourless, it is difficult to detect leakage.

• Storage: Although being easier to transport, it has a volume which is four times more than that of petrol which adds up to the expense for bigger storage space.

Did you know?

Natural gas is usually found dissolved in oil at the high pressures existing during a reservoir, and it is often present as a gas cap above the oil. In many instances, it's the pressure of gas exerted upon the subterranean oil reservoir that gives the drive to force oil up to the surface. Such gas is understood as associated gas; it's often considered to be the gaseous phase of petroleum and typically contains some light liquids like propane and butane. For this reason, associated gas is usually called “wet gas.” There also are reservoirs that contain gas and no oil. This gas is termed nonassociated gas. Nonassociated gas, coming from reservoirs that aren't connected with any known source of liquid petroleum is “dry gas.”

Natural gas is processed and converted into cleaner fuel for consumption and is not used in its purest form. Propane, ethane, butane, carbon dioxide, nitrogen,etc. are some of the by-products which are extracted while processing natural gas and can be used further.