uses of natural gas?

Question

what are the uses and benefits of natural gas

Answer 1

Natural Gas is also used to produce electricity for power plants.

Answer 2

Methane (NG) when properly mixed with oxygen will burn cleanly to carbon dioxide and water vapor. That is why we love to use it. However do not be fooled that it ALWAYS burns so wonderfully, as indicated above. IT MAY NOT. Incomplete oxidation will form CO, carbon monoxide, which will kill you dead and you may not even know it. If you smell a hydrocarbon odor when burning natural gas, it is indicative of incomplete combustion, and CO is being produced. Defiantly at that point turn the gas off and ventilate the space. Call the gas company. Don't use it until it gets fixed.
A well known case of this was Vitas Gerulaitis the professional tennis player. He was killed because of this.

Answer 3

Natural gas is a mixture of gases such as methane, ethane, propane and butane.

It is used principally because it contains high calorific compounds like methane. Therefore, we use it for cooking, heating our homes.

We also use it as chemical feedstock to produce hydrogen. When methane reacts with water it produces CO + Hydrogen.

Note: We do not use natural gas as a fuel for cars-yet. Instead we use LPG (Liquified Petroleum Gas), which contains somewhat heavier components such as propana and butane.

Answer 4

It is a fossil fuel . It is methane gas . One of the cleanest burning but produce the same CO2 which is good sense God put the plants here to clean our air.

Answer 5

Natural gas is mostly methane, CH4. It is very clean burning. CH4+2O2--->CO2+2H2O It produces only carbondioxide and water. For this reason we can burn it in our homes in stoves(ranges). It is also used to heat homes. It is used in industry for bakeries, steel production, brick making and many more.

Answer 6

USES OF NATURAL GAS

Natural gas is a great choice throughout your home …

Home Heating
Natural gas provides cost-effective warmth and comfort like no other form of heating. With natural gas heat, you'll enjoy a warmer feeling in your home. That's because natural gas furnaces deliver air to heat registers at about 110 degrees Fahrenheit, which is much warmer than body temperatures--something other heat sources can't match.

Water Heaters
The water heater is the home's second largest energy user. A natural gas water heater can heat water up to twice as fast as other methods of water heating. That means you'll probably never run out of hot water again.

Fireplaces
Now you can enjoy a warm fire instantly without the hassle of chopping, hauling, and storing wood--and be kinder to the environment at the same time. With thermostats and blowers, many gas fireplaces, gas stoves, and inserts are capable of heating smaller houses.

Cooking With Gas
It's no surprise chefs from Paris to your neighbors down the street prefer cooking with gas. Immediate heat, visible flame, and even temperature provide complete control. Plus, cooking with gas can help you save on your cooking energy costs.

Clothes Dryer
Dry your laundry in half the time for less money. A natural gas clothes dryer reduces static, dries your clothes with fewer wrinkles, and saves you money too.

Barbecues
Now it is easier than ever to bring family and friends together for an outdoor barbecue. With a natural gas barbecue you will never have to worry again about running out of lighter fluid, briquettes, propane, or waiting for the coals to get hot. You will enjoy fast, even cooking that is every grillmaster's dream.


BENEFITS OF NATURAL GAS

Using natural gas in place of other fuels can help ease a number of environmental concerns — greenhouse gas emissions, acid rain, smog, solid waste and water pollution. When natural gas is burned, it produces virtually no emissions of sulfur dioxide or particulate matter and far lower levels of "greenhouse" gases and nitrogen oxides than such competing sources of energy as oil and coal. In addition, unlike the oil, coal and nuclear processes, the natural gas process produces virtually no solid waste and has much less impact on water quality.

The inherent cleanliness of natural gas when compared with those other fuels, coupled with the high efficiency of natural gas equipment, means that substituting gas for the other fuels can help reduce the emission of the air pollutants that produce smog and acid rain and that could exacerbate the "greenhouse" effect.


The natural gas system is extremely efficient as are most types of appliances and equiptment that operate on natural gas. Energy efficiency refers to the energy input per unit of useful energy output. In other words, energy efficiency measures how much energy is used or lost in providing such things as hot water, steam, warm or cool air. The higher the energy efficiency, the greater the conservation of energy and the lower the environmental impacts.

When the entire cycle of producing, processing, transporting and using energy is considered, natural gas is delivered to the consumer with a "total energy efficiency" of about 90 percent, compared with about 27 percent for electricity. Moreover, gas appliances and equipment are extremely efficient as evidenced by the fact that the residential use of gas per customer is about 16 percent less today than it was in 1980.

Natural gas is the most economical energy choice. Natural gas is usually the most economical form of energy available regardless of which competing fuel it is measured against, the application involved or the geographical location of the consumer.

For instance, using the 1999 average national energy prices published by the Department of Energy, heating an average-size house in a moderate climate costs 5 percent less to heat with gas than with heating oil and 33 percent less than with an electric heat pump. Similarly, using gas to heat household water is about half as expensive as using electricity. Even with the aggressive demand levels of the accelerated projection, gas will remain price-competitive.

Natural gas is a highly reliable North American energy source. Approximately 85 percent of the natural gas consumed in the United States is produced domestically from the nation's extensive gas resource base. Nearly all of the remaining 15 percent is produced in North America, primarily in Canada. In comparison, close to 60 percent of the oil used in the United States is imported from foreign countries, some of which are politically unstable.

Furthermore, natural gas is a reliable source of fuel not only because most of the supply is domestic, but also because the pipeline delivery system is underground and protected from weather-related disruptions.

This reliability is one of the reasons businesses that cannot afford power disruptions find gas-fired distributed electricity generation so attractive (see "Gas Puts Electricity on the Doorstep," page 25). For instance, McDonald's and other food chains are testing gas-based distributed generation because they cannot afford power outages that could destroy their food products.

Natural gas technologies can contribute to the United States' foreign trade offerings. An expanding domestic natural gas industry offers worldwide trade opportunities. The United States leads the world in terms of its natural gas infrastructure, and U.S. companies are furnishing equipment and expertise to countries in Central America, South America, Europe and the Far East that are just beginning to develop natural gas systems. In addition, a strong global market exists for gas-related products such as high-efficiency gas turbines.

The domestic natural gas industry employs hundreds of thousands of workers and helps fuel the economy. Besides providing one of the fuels that drive economic activity, the U.S. natural gas utility industry employs about 150,000 people. Roughly the same number of people currently work for oil and gas exploration and production companies.

Gas utilities have strong ties to the communities they serve, purchasing goods and services in addition to providing jobs. According to the Department of Commerce's Bureau of Economic Analysis, every $1 million of revenue generated by gas utilities increases national economic output by $2.66 million, employee earnings by $450,000 and employment by 14 workers.