The natural gas industry is full of unusual terminology. Here are some words you might encounter in Txchnologist’s month-long focus on the topic.
Methane – The principal component of natural gas. A potent greenhouse gas, it also has a shorter lifetime in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide.
Shale gas – Abundant source of natural gas trapped within shale rock formations, often more than a mile underground. Can be extracted using hydraulic fracturing.
Wet gas – What comes out of a natural gas well. Contains methane in addition to other hydrocarbons such as ethane, propane and butane.
Dry gas – Also called “consumer grade” natural gas, dry gas is almost pure methane and is created after other hydrocarbons have been removed. This requires processing to separate oil, if present, and removal of other hydrocarbons.
Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking – The creation of fractures in rocks to enhance recovery of oil or gas. Requires the injection of water, sand and chemicals at high pressure to break porous rock and allow the gas to flow out.
Sweet gas - Gas that contains little hydrogen sulfide.
Sour gas – Natural gas that contains significant amounts of hydrogen sulfide. Must be treated to remove impurities that can result in lower burning quality.
Simple Cycle – A configuration where a gas turbine used for generating electricity does not use a secondary heat recovery system. It can be turned on and off within minutes and is particularly useful for providing peak power but is not as efficient as a turbine in combined cycle.
Combined Cycle – A highly efficient configuration where waste heat from a gas turbine is recovered and turned into steam that is used to generate additional power.
“Wind firming” – The ability of natural gas to back up renewable power sources like wind because turbines can fire up quickly when the wind dies down.