Unit 2 natural gas
Words to be remembered:
fossil fuels – ископаемые виды топлива
to emit = to give off - выделять, испускать
harmful byproducts - вредные побочные продукты
primarily – в основном, главным образом
chart - таблица
composition - cостав
carbon dioxide - углекислый газ
hydrogen sulfide - сероводород
trace - след
to deliver - доставлять
associated with - (зд.) сопровождающие, попутные
to remove - удалять
deposit - месторождение
to refine - очищать
impurities - примеси
compound - соединение
to exist - существовать
Before reading the text check the pronunciation of the following words:
Carbon, hydrogen, hydrocarbons, sulfur, oxygen , nitrogen, carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, methane, ethane, propane, butane, argon, neon, helium, xenon
Natural Gas
Natural gas is colorless, shapeless, and odorless in its pure form. But natural gas is combustible, and when burned it gives off a great deal of energy. Unlike other fossil fuels, however, natural gas is clean burning and emits lower levels of potentially harmful byproducts into the air. We require energy constantly, to heat our homes, cook our food, and generate our electricity. It is this need for energy that has elevated natural gas to such a level of importance in our society, and in our lives.
Natural gas is a combustible mixture of hydrocarbon gases. While natural gas is formed primarily of methane, it can also include ethane, propane, butane and pentane. The composition of natural gas can vary widely, but below is a chart outlining the typical makeup of natural gas before it is refined.
Typical composition of natural gas
Methane CH4 70-90%
Ethane C2H6 0-20%
Propane C3H8 0 – 5%
Butane C4H10 0 – 5%
Carbon Dioxide CO2 0-8%
Oxygen O2 0-0.2%
Nitrogen N2 0-5%
Hydrogen sulfide H2S 0-5%
Rare gases Ar, He, Ne, Xe trace
In its purest form, such as the natural gas that is delivered to your home, it is almost pure methane. Methane is a molecule made up of one carbon atom and four hydrogen atoms, and is referred to as CH4.
Ethane, propane, and the other hydrocarbons commonly associated with natural gas have slightly different chemical formulas, which can be seen here.
Natural gas is considered ‘dry’ when it is almost pure methane, having had most of the other associated hydrocarbons removed. When other hydrocarbons are present, the natural gas is 'wet'.
Natural gas has many uses, residentially, commercially, and industrially. Natural gas is commonly associated with oil deposits. When it is brought from underground, the natural gas is refined to remove impurities like water, other gases, sand, and other compounds. Some hydrocarbons are removed and sold separately, including propane and butane. Other impurities are also removed, like hydrogen sulfide (the refining of which can produce sulfur, which is then also sold separately). After refining, the clean natural gas is transmitted through a network of pipelines, thousands of miles of which exist in the United States alone. From these pipelines, natural gas is delivered to its point of use.
Questions on the text:
1) What is natural gas in its pure form? 2) How does natural gas differ from other fossil fuels? 3) Where do we use it? 4) What is natural gas? 5) What is the composition of the typical natural gas? 6) What is the difference between the ‘dry’ and ‘wet’ natural gas? 7) Why is natural gas refined? 8) What happens to natural gas after refining? 9) What happens to impurities like propane, butane and sulfur?
UNIT 3 WHY DO WE NEED OIL AND GAS?
Words to be remembered:
to provide - снабжать, обеспечивать, предоставлять
plastics – изделия из пластмассы, полимеры
fuel – топливо
manufacturer – изготовитель, производитель
ethanol – этанол
to charge – заряжать
fuel cell – топливная батарея, топливный элемент
by-product – побочный продукт
reserves –запасы
pipeline – трубопровод
to convert - превращать
to enable – давать возможность
alternative energy sources – альтернативные источники энергии
to acknowledge – признавать
oil consumption - потребление жидкого топлива
competitive – конкурентоспособный, конкурентный
liquified natural gas (LNG) - сжиженный природный газ.
gas-to-liquids (GTL) – технология сжижения газа ( производства синтетического жидкого топлива – дизельного топлива и бензина – из природного газа)
Oil and natural gas are an important part of your everyday life. Not only do they give us mobility, they heat and cool our homes and provide electricity. Millions of products are made from oil and gas, including plastics, life-saving medications, clothing, cosmetics, and many other items you may use daily.
In the United States, 97% of the energy that drives the transportation sector (cars, buses, subways, railroads, airplanes, etc.) comes from fuels made from oil. Auto manufacturers are developing cars to run on alternate fuels such as electricity, hydrogen and ethanol. However, the electric batteries need to be charged and the fuel to generate the electricity could be oil or gas. The hydrogen needed for fuel cells may be generated from natural gas or petroleum-based products. Even as alternative fuels are developed, oil is crucially important to assure that people can get where they need to be and want to go.
In areas of the world that are still developing, businesses and individuals are demanding greater mobility for themselves and their products. In China, for example, the number of cars has been growing by 20% per year. Airports are being added in these countries as well, expanding jet fuel demand. Oil is expected to remain the primary fuel source for transportation.
Natural gas use is growing across all economic sectors. Natural gas burns cleaner than oil or coal, and this environmental benefit has encouraged its use. While decades ago, natural gas was seen as an unwanted by-product of oil and may have been wasted, its value has been recognized. Developing nations with gas reserves are finding this resource invaluable to building their economies. Most natural gas is distributed by pipelines, which is a limiting factor for remote resources that are not near the major consuming markets. Some natural gas is chilled to a liquid state (LNG) whereby it can be transported across oceans by tanker. Similarly, there is considerable development of technology to convert natural gas to liquids (GTL) to enable transportation.
The world economy runs on oil and natural gas. These fuels improve your quality of life by providing you with transportation, warmth, light, and many everyday products. They enable you to get where you need to go, they supply products you need, and they create jobs. Without oil and natural gas, quality of life would decline and people in developing nations would not be able to improve their standard of living. Does that mean that alternative energy sources are not necessary? No. But it is important to acknowledge the value of oil and gas to the world economy and recognize that it will be decades before the alternatives can replace all of things that oil and natural gas contribute to our lives.
Questions on the text:
1) Why are oil and gas an important part of our everyday life? 2) How are oil and natural gas used in developing countries? 3) What alternative fuels do you know? 4) How was natural gas seen decades ago? 5) Why is natural gas use growing across all economic sectors today? 6) How is most of natural gas distributed? 7) Why is some natural gas chilled to a liquid state (LNG)? 8) What do oil and gas provide us with? 9) Do we need alternative energy sources? 10) Will alternative energy sources replace oil and natural gas soon?