Natural Gas Facts
Natural Gas, what is it?
Well to start off with it comes from the ground and it’s shapeless, odorless, and colorless. Now you might be thinking, that’s boring, and you’d be right if we ended the conversation there, but we’ve got more to say. It’s explosive, and when it burns it releases water vaper and carbon dioxide. Why is this important to know? Because other fuels such as coal and oil release many potentially harmful chemicals into the air, whereas natural gas has few emissions.
What makes up Natural Gas?
The main components of natural gas is methane which makes up about 70 – 90 %. Then you’ll find ethane, propane, and butane all making up between 0 – 20 %. Next comes carbon dioxide which is between 0 – 8%, oxygen 0 – 0.2%, nitrogen 0 -5%, and hydrogen sulphine 0 -5%.
You might be wondering at this point which one of the above elements is the one that smells like rotten eggs? And the answer is (drum roll), none of them! What? You heard me right, the smell that is often associated with natural gas is an odorant called mercaptan and this is added to the gas so that if there is a leak it can be detected quickly. Remember at the beginning of this article we stated that natural gas in it’s purest form is odorless and colorless.
How is Natural Gas formed?
Would you be amazed if I told you the process started a very long time ago? Some say it takes millions of years for natural gas to be formed. That’s right, the remains of animals, plants and microorganisms that are compressed in the earth at extremely high pressure, for a really long time. This is also known as Thermogenic Methane. This is just one way natural gas can be formed. If you’d like to learn of a couple other ways feel free to google Biogenic methane and/or Abiogenic Processes.
The History of Natural Gas
Throughout the ages natural gas has baffled audiences across the world. You can find stories about mythical fire emitting from the earths crust in places like Greece, India, and China. As you can imagine , as the lightning struck the ground in an area that had natural gas seeping out and WHAMO, FIRE! This caused some people to be in such awe that they began worshiping it as something divine.
When did mankind start using this seeping of Natural Gas to their advantage?
Around 500 BC the Chinese used bamboo shoots to pipe the natural gas from one place to another so that they could boil seawater for drinkin purposes. It took another 2285 years before mankind used natural gas for commercial purposes. Where did this happen? In the then known world power, Britain. What did the Brits use it for you might ask? They used it to light houses and streetlights. The USA first saw the use of this kind of natural gas produced from coal in the early 1800′s in the city of Baltimore, Maryland.
Who gets the title as the father of Natural Gas in America?
Well, the first person to dig a well trying to obtain natural gas was William Hart in Fredonia, NY. He noticed gas leaking through the earths crust into a creek. This caused bubbles to rise and Harts mind to kick into gear and capitalize on what later became known as Fredonia Gas Light Company.
Well to start off with it comes from the ground and it’s shapeless, odorless, and colorless. Now you might be thinking, that’s boring, and you’d be right if we ended the conversation there, but we’ve got more to say. It’s explosive, and when it burns it releases water vaper and carbon dioxide. Why is this important to know? Because other fuels such as coal and oil release many potentially harmful chemicals into the air, whereas natural gas has few emissions.
What makes up Natural Gas?
The main components of natural gas is methane which makes up about 70 – 90 %. Then you’ll find ethane, propane, and butane all making up between 0 – 20 %. Next comes carbon dioxide which is between 0 – 8%, oxygen 0 – 0.2%, nitrogen 0 -5%, and hydrogen sulphine 0 -5%.
You might be wondering at this point which one of the above elements is the one that smells like rotten eggs? And the answer is (drum roll), none of them! What? You heard me right, the smell that is often associated with natural gas is an odorant called mercaptan and this is added to the gas so that if there is a leak it can be detected quickly. Remember at the beginning of this article we stated that natural gas in it’s purest form is odorless and colorless.
How is Natural Gas formed?
Would you be amazed if I told you the process started a very long time ago? Some say it takes millions of years for natural gas to be formed. That’s right, the remains of animals, plants and microorganisms that are compressed in the earth at extremely high pressure, for a really long time. This is also known as Thermogenic Methane. This is just one way natural gas can be formed. If you’d like to learn of a couple other ways feel free to google Biogenic methane and/or Abiogenic Processes.
The History of Natural Gas
Throughout the ages natural gas has baffled audiences across the world. You can find stories about mythical fire emitting from the earths crust in places like Greece, India, and China. As you can imagine , as the lightning struck the ground in an area that had natural gas seeping out and WHAMO, FIRE! This caused some people to be in such awe that they began worshiping it as something divine.
When did mankind start using this seeping of Natural Gas to their advantage?
Around 500 BC the Chinese used bamboo shoots to pipe the natural gas from one place to another so that they could boil seawater for drinkin purposes. It took another 2285 years before mankind used natural gas for commercial purposes. Where did this happen? In the then known world power, Britain. What did the Brits use it for you might ask? They used it to light houses and streetlights. The USA first saw the use of this kind of natural gas produced from coal in the early 1800′s in the city of Baltimore, Maryland.
Who gets the title as the father of Natural Gas in America?
Well, the first person to dig a well trying to obtain natural gas was William Hart in Fredonia, NY. He noticed gas leaking through the earths crust into a creek. This caused bubbles to rise and Harts mind to kick into gear and capitalize on what later became known as Fredonia Gas Light Company.
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