Natural Gas > Propane vs Liquifying Natural Gas for Ship transport

[k_graham]

Please excuse my intrusion here as this is not my field of expertise, however as a resident of an area rich in natural gas I must view the rewards and consequences of the extraction as society is funded by the extraction of these resources.

Natural Gas can be converted to Diesel but at incredible cost, However I am wondering about the economics of processing Natural Gas into Propane versus Liquifying Natural Gas for Ship transport and end use which is what is proposed. At one time I had ran across a Google link, I believe for a company that was able to do this type process using catalysts but no longer can find such link.

Advantages would be much lower pressure to liquefy, higher BTU per Gallon, more useable as a motor fuel with 4 times range of compressed natural gas, useable in all applications Natural Gas is used for.

The sole negative difference being propane is heavier than air so a leak might have more risk than Natural Gas, yet has the same environmental benefit of no soil contamination.

Transport via truck, rail, if feasible by pipeline the line could be 1/4 the size if pumped as liquid and at under 200 psi. No Vaporization loss in transport for cooling, though likely ships transporting Liquified Natural Gas would use it to run their turbines so likely no vaporization loss.

If the energy use for conversion is anywhere near that required for liquefaction converting to propane or similar like butane seems to be the better solution.

Thanks for your thoughts.

Ken Graham

[k_graham]

. At one time I had ran across a Google link, I believe for a company that was able to do this type process using catalysts but no longer can find such link.

Advantages would be much lower pressure to liquefy, higher BTU per Gallon, more useable as a motor fuel with 4 times range of compressed natural gas, useable in all applications Natural Gas is used for.
Ken Graham

I believe I may have found the link I was mentioning

[link Point to another website Only the registered members can access]
Anyway the link only really mentions conversion to Diesel using Catalysts but I guess with the aid of time and forgetfulness I assumed catalysts could include Natural Gas to Propane, anyway I would appreciate hearing how silly my idea is so I could move on to something less grandiose, and if not a silly idea I know there are several countries with these projects in the works for liquefying Natural Gas including my own.

Ken