TPG 4140

CALCULATIONS IN NATURAL GAS COURSE

Prof. J.S. Gudmundsson
September 2012

Molecular Weight

M can be found from the gas composition, using an Excel sheet. An example is shown
below (gas composition from GPA 1998).

Molecular Mole
Components weight fraction
g/mole yi
Methan, CH4 16,042 0,8319
Ethan, C2H6 30,07 0,0848
Propan, C3H8 44,10 0,0437
i-Butane, C4H10 58,12 0,0076
n-Butane, C4H10 58,12 0,0168
i-Pentane C5H12 72,15 0,0057
n-Pentane C5H12 72,15 0,0032
Hexane C6H14 86,18 0,0063
Heptane C7H16 100,21 0
Hydogen, H2 2,02 0
Nitrogen, N2 28,01 0
Oxygen, O2 32,00 0
Carbon dioxid, CO2 44,01 0
Hydrogensulfid, H2S 34,08 0
Dihydrogenoksid, H2O 18,02 0
Σ Mole fraction 1,0000
Total molecular weight gas 20,43 g/mole

M = 20.43 g/mol = 20.43 kg/kmol

Specific Gravity

Definition of specific gravity, ratio of the molecular weight of natural gas to that of
common air (without water vapour). M taken from above.

  M 
   gas    gas 
  air  s.c.  M air 

Mgas =  28.97 [kg/kmol]



The subscript gas is not necessarily used.

The specific gravity was also calculated in the Excel sheet, rounded up to γ = 0.71

Reduced Pressure and Temperature

Reduced pressure and temperature are also called pseudocritical pressure and
temperature, expressed as

p
pr  p pr 
pc

T
Tr  Tpr 
Tc

where the subscript c stands for critical.

Key’s Rule is used to obtain the critical pressure and temperature for natural gas
mixtures

pc   pci yi
i

Tc   Tci yi
i

The critical pressure and temperature for individual natural gas components are
available in handbooks and tables. The symbol yi stands for mole fraction.

For the natural gas composition taken from GPA (1998) critical pressure and
temperature were estimated to be 4.57 MPa and 218 K.

Based on the Excel sheet, the corresponding numbers are 4.6 MPa and 218 K.

Critical pressure and temperature can also be obtained from semi-empirical equations
based on specific gravity, for example from Rojey & Jaffret (1997)

p pc  4.892  0.405 [MPa]

Tpc  94.72  170.75 [K]

Such equations tend to be based on natural gas found in certain oil and gas provinces.

There is an error in the critical temperature equation in Rojey & Jaffret (1997). There should be a plus
in the equation, as shown above.

Using a specific gravity of 0.705 the critical pressure and temperature are estimated
4.606 MPa and 215 K. These are reasonably close to the above values.

Compressibility Factor
Assuming a pressure of 80 bara and temperature of 30 C the z-factor can be estimated
from the figure below (commonly called the Standing-Katz diagram)

The reduced pressure is

80  10 5
pr   1.75
4.57  10 6

and the reduced temperature

30  273.15
Tr   1.39
218

Read from diagram z = 0.79

The reduced pressure and temperature from the Excel sheet are 1.75 and 1.39. That is,
exactly the same.

The Hall-Yarborough method in the Excel spreadsheet is considered one of the more
accurate semi-empirical equations for z-factor.

Read from spreadsheet z = 0.7831

Gas Density

Need molecular weight, z-factor and the local temperature and pressure.

pM

zRT

Using the values obtained above, the density of the gas at 80 bara and 30 C can be
calculated as

80  10 5  20.43
  82.8 kg/m3
0.7831  8314  (30  273.15)

The same result is obtained from the Excel spreadsheet, which also gives the viscosity
as 0.0139 mPa.s

Friction Factor and Reynolds Number

The friction factor in commercial pipes can be calculated from the Haaland equation

1 1.8  6.9  n  k 1.11n 

 log     
f n  Re   3.75d  
where n = 3 for natural gas pipelines ( n = 1 for liquid flow). The Reynolds number is
give by

ud
Re 


and the relative roughness by k/d.

Pressure Drop Horizontal Pipeline

In general, equations for pressure drop in pipelines can be used to calculate the
pressure drop, the diameter and the flow capacity, depending of which of the variables
are given and what result is required. Approximate calculations can be carried out for
gas pipelines using the Darcy-Weisbach equation

f L
p f  u 2
2 d

where average gas properties are used.

For illustration purposes, assume 7 MSm3/d flowrate (10 % of Ormen Lange). Assume
inlet pressure 200 bara and outlet pressure 100 bara. Assume 500 km distance.
Therefore, pressure gradient (200-100)/500 km = 20 bar/100 km. Assume constant
temperature of 10 C.

The simplest way to find the z-factor is to use the available Excel spreadsheet. At 200
bara and 10 C the z-factor is 0,6806. At 100 bara and 10 C the z-factor is 0.6638. The
average z-factor is therefore 0.6722. From spreadsheet, average density 194 kg/m3 and
average viscosity 0.0218 mPa.s.

The velocity depends on the pipeline diameter and mass flowrate. To know the mass
flowrate we need the density of the gas at standard conditions, use Excel spreadsheet
and assume z = 1. We note that 1 atm = 1.01325 bara. Density at s.c. 0.864 kg/m3.
Therefore the mass flowrate is

7  10 6
m 0.864  70 kg/s
24  3600

Average velocity is given by

m
u
A

such that

8 fLm 2
d5 
 2 p
Assuming an average friction factor of 0.015 the diameter can be estimated

8  0.015  500000  70
d5   0.219 10 3
3.14162 194 100 105

giving a diameter of 0.19 m and an average flow velocity of 2.4 m/s (from
spreadsheet). The corresponding Reynolds number is about 40 million and a friction
factor of 0.0544.

Calculating again

8  0.0544  500000  70
d5   0.794  10  3
3.1416  194  100  10
2 5

gives a diameter of 0.24 m and an average flow velocity of 1.9 m/s. The Reynolds
number is about 40 million so the friction factor will be the same.

Therefore, a couple of iterations give a pipeline diameter of about 240 mm (about 9-

1/2 inch).

A similar iteration procedure can be followed using the pressure drop in gas pipelines
equation, but it is more involved and will not be illustrated her.

d  p 22 
d A2 M 2
 
p 2  p1  ln 2   L  0
2

f m 2 z RT f  p1 