Natural gas liquids, also called natural gas condensate, are a low-density mixture of hydrocarbon liquids present as gaseous components within raw natural gas as it comes out of the ground. When the temperature of the raw gas stream falls below its hydrocarbon dew point at a given pressure, typically during processing or transport, these components condense out of the gas into liquid form. The resulting liquids, which include ethane, propane, butanes and heavier hydrocarbons, are separated out at gas processing plants and sold individually as fuels or petrochemical feedstocks rather than left mixed into the pipeline gas stream.
Facts
Source Class First Commercial YearRoyalite Oil operated a dedicated natural gas liquids plant alongside its sweetening plant at Turner Valley, Alberta, between 1924 and 1927, among the earliest dedicated natural gas liquids extraction operations; wet natural gas had been discovered at Turner Valley in 1914, and natural gasoline extraction in the United States traces to roughly the same decade. Connections
Associated With
NGLs (ethane, propane, butane, isobutane, natural gasoline) are extracted from the natural gas production stream at natural gas processing plants (US EIA).
Propane, Energy Sources Propane is one of the named component hydrocarbons of natural gas liquids, alongside ethane, butane, isobutane and natural gasoline (US EIA).
Sources
1. United States Energy Information Administration Official Site
US Energy Information AdministrationEnergy Explained, Hydrocarbon gas liquids explainedQuote, Energy Explained, Hydrocarbon gas liquids explained
Natural gas plant liquids, which account for most HGL production in the United States, fall solely into the alkanes category.
2. Wikipedia: History of the petroleum industry in Canada (natural gas liquids)
WikipediaHistory of the petroleum industry in Canada (natural gas liquids) article, Turner Valley sectionQuote, History of the petroleum industry in Canada (natural gas liquids) article, Turner Valley section
Between 1924 and 1927, Royalite operated two gas processing facilities side-by-side in Turner Valley: the sweetening plant and the liquids plant.
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