Natural Gas Liquids

What is Natural Gas Liquids?

As the Natural Gas Liquid meaning implies, it refers to the elements of the gas that are removed from the gas in liquid form. This extraction requires advanced processes and technology. Basically, natural gas liquids are separated from the gas in the gas or chemical processing firms. The processes used for separating these components from the gas are condensation and absorption. Natural gas liquids have an extensive Range of uses. The main reason why manufacturers separate NGL components from the gas is that the latter is more valuable in its isolated form.

Once these components are extracted from the gas, the manufacturers separate them into multiple elements. Hydrocarbon is the NGL that’s separated from the natural gas at the gas Manufacturing and processing firms. As the name suggests, hydrocarbons are made of hydrogen and carbon molecules. The chemical structure of these components is the same, however, they have different applications. For example, natural gas could be used for heating and cooking purposes. They can also be used for fusing the natural gas liquids into fuels.

The increased level of natural gas liquid extraction is often associated with the higher prices of crude oil. When crude oil prices fall, manufacturers increase the extraction of the NGLs to compensate for the losses. The natural gas liquid separation or extraction process is no longer challenging these days. Advanced technology, such as the hydraulic fracturing technique, has made the separation process a whole lot easier. Thanks to technology and high-quality equipment. We have witnessed major growth in the level of natural gas liquid extraction over the past few years.

Benefits and Drawbacks of the Natural Gas Liquids

The best part is NGLs offers an additional source of revenue to the suppliers and manufacturers of natural gas. That’s one of the reasons why the production of natural gas liquids has been increasing rapidly. While natural gas liquids have a high demand due to their uses, they come with their share of drawbacks. The storage and transportation of this liquid are the major challenges the NGL suppliers and producers face.

Unlike refined products, natural gas liquids need an extremely low temperature. They do not remain in the liquid state if they are stored in a place with high temperature and low pressure. This makes the shipment and storage of NGLs quite challenging for the producers. In addition to that, natural gas liquids are flammable products. They are to be stored and shipped in special storage tanks. The high demand for NGL increases the requirement for the gas processing plants that extract the hydrocarbons from the natural gas.

The main use of natural gas liquid is in the petrochemical feedstock. These liquid molecules are converted into chemical products. They are widely used for heating and cooking purposes. The availability of natural gas liquids is higher in the areas where advanced drilling techniques are used for the separation process. Currently, the United States is the leading supplier of natural gas liquid. It has a large number of natural gas processing plants that separate NLG from natural gas.