Monday 5 October 2015

LIQUEFIED PETROLEUM GAS: A WASTING RESOURCES IN NIGERIA

With a view into the amount of natural resources in the world today, many nations of the world, like Nigeria, would have fared better than they currently do had there been proper management of this unequalled earthly gift.
The Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) are flammable mixtures of hydrocarbon gases are made from natural gas liquids (NGL), which are in turn recovered from associated petroleum gas (APG). The LPG are naturally occurring 60% byproduct of natural gas extraction and 40% crude oil refining. It is a combination of propane and butane molecule, along with trace amounts of other compounds. However, the LPG can be converted to a lot of useful issues or wasted through 'flaring' as has been the case in Nigeria for many years.
The Liquefied petroleum gas is colourless and odourless with an addition of strong stenching agent for easy detection of any leak however tiny. When subjected to modest pressure or cooling, it transforms into a liquid but remains gas at a normal temperature. As its boiling point is below room temperature (25°C), LPG evaporates quickly at normal temperature and pressures and usually supplied in pressurized steel vessels- vessels that stores pressure below the atmospheric pressure. These vessels are usually filled to 80-85% of the capacity to allow for thermal expansion of the contained liquid. It is a clean, versatile fuel with wide range of other uses in household, commercial and industrial energy applications. LPG finds uses in aerosol propellant and a refrigerant, replacing Chlorofluorocarbons in an attempt to reduce damage to the ozone layer and global warming effects.
The Many Applications of LPG
® COOKING: As a cooking gas, LPG serves as an alternative to the traditional cooking fuels (such as firewood, charcoal,sawdust,dung,etc) thereby liberating people from suffering and the enormous time spent in fetching firewood, and by so doing, enabling them to pursue personal education or other value-added economic activities within the community.
LPG is used for cooking in many countries either for economic reasons, for convenience or because it is the preferred fuel source.
According to the 2011 census of India, 33.6 million (28.5%) Indian households used LPG as cooking fuel in 2011, as supplied to their homes in pressurized cylinders. It is subsidized by the government of India. LPG was also once a popular cooking fuel in Hong Kong, however,the continued expansion of town gas to buildings has reduced its usage to barely 24% of residential homes. LPG is the most common cooking fuel in Brazilian urban areas, being used in virtually all households with the exception of the city of Rio de Janeiro.
® RURAL HEATING: LPG is can provide an alternative to electricity and heating oil(the usual DPK- Dual Purpose Kerosene). It can be used as a source of power for combined heat and power (CHP) technologies. CHP is the process of generating both electrical power and useful heat from the same fuel source. This technology has allowed LPG to be used not just as fuel for heating and cooking, but for decentralized generation of electricity.
LPG is also used as a source of fuel for centralized heating of the house during winter as well as recreational purposes. LPG has a lower greenhouse gas emissions than the usual PMS- Premium Motor Spirit. As a cost-effective energy source, LPG can be up to five times more efficient than traditional fuels, resulting in less energy wastage and better use of our planet's resources.
® MOTOR FUEL: When used in this way, it is referred to as auto gas. LPG is also used to fuel internal combustion engines. In most cases, there are additives in the liquid that helps extend engine life and the ratio of propane to butane is kept quite precise in LPG. Its advantage in this is that it is non-toxic, non-corrosive and free of tetraethyllead or any additives, and has a high octane rating (102-108 RON). It burns more cleanly than petrol or fuel-oil and is especially free of the particulates present in the latter.
® REFRIGERATION: In a bid to find a lasting replacement for the ever ozone-depleting Chlorofluorocarbons with its global warming effect, LPG is instrumental to providing off-the-grid refrigeration, usually by means of a gas absorption refrigerator. Blended of pure, dry propane (refrigerant designator R-290) and isobutane (R-600a), the blend 'R-290a' has negligible ozone depletion potential and very low global warming effect and can serve as a functional replacement for R-12, R-22, R-13a and other chlorofluorocarbons and hydrofluorocarbons refrigerants in conventional stationary refrigeration and air-conditioning systems.
The Effect Of LPG on The Environment
Commercially available LPG currently has its source mainly from fossil fuels. Burning of LPG, as with any other organic compounds, releases carbon dioxide,a greenhouse gas. The reaction also produced some carbon monoxide. However, LPG does release less carbon dioxide per unit of energy than does coal or oil. As a result, it contributes positively to the improvement of air quality than other commonly used fuels.
As a clean, lower carbon, efficient and innovative energy, it offers benefits to consumers, industry and the environment. LPG helps reduce Black Carbon and Matter emissions which not only compromises both indoor a d outdoor air quality but can also cause serious health problem. LPG is nontoxic and has no impact on soil, water and underground aquifers.
Possible Dangers
Liquefied Petroleum Gas, unlike natural gas, is heavier than air, and will thus flow along floors and tend to settle in low spots, such as basements. Two main dangers are attached to this: the first is a possible explosion if the mixture of LPG and air is within the explosive limits and there is an ignition source.
The second is suffocation due to LPG displacing air, causing a decrease in oxygen concentration.
In view of these, LPG must be stored in pressure vessels as already mentioned above. LPG containers have pressure relief valves with which they vent the LPGs to the atmosphere or flare stack when subjected to exterior heating sources.
A Wakeup Call to The Government
There is a need for us to all arise and put this divine gift to us into maximum usage rather than using it to cause more harm to our environment through avoidable flaring and what is programmed to be a blessing for us. The ozone layer remains only but a tiny layer, and if we must protect it, we must stop constituting more harm to the atmosphere through the release of greenhouse gases.
The government at all levels and all corporate bodies concerned should wakeup in a bid to save our environment and to help save people who could have had their life expectancy reduced due to excess inhaling of the toxic gases from traditional cooking fuels to:
1. Bring LPG nearer to the citizens at affordable cost;
2. Minimize flaring of LPG at the domestic refineries during optimum production levels and re-importation at shutdown;
3. The same precedence applied on the distribution of petroleum products be equally followed up in the supply and distribution of LPG to liberate the consumers from constant scarcity as well as encourage gradual switch through enlightenment campaign from the use of kerosene and firewood to LPG for cooking.
4. Appropriate and right legislation be put in place to encourage investors in the distribution and also provide the necessary facilities that will enable proper handling of LPG at the hand of the private investors.
©Freewealth
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References:
1. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquefied_petroleum_gas
2. Pipeliners: An In-house Quarterly Newsletter of the Pipelines and Products Marketing Co. Ltd. ISSN: 2141-0453