Gas Condensate

a product derived from natural gas; a mixture of liquid hydrocarbons (with more than four carbon atoms per molecule). Under natural conditions, a gas condensate is a solution of heavier hydrocarbons. The gas-condensate content in gases of various deposits ranges from 12 to 700 cm³ per 1 m³ of gas. The gas condensate separated from natural gas at reduced pressure and/or temperature by reverse condensation is a colorless or slightly colored liquid of density 700-800 kg/m³, which begins to boil at 30-70°C. The composition of a gas condensate corresponds approximately to the gasoline or kerosine fraction of crude oil or to a mixture of them.

Gas condensate is a valuable raw material for the production of motor fuels, as well as for chemical processes. Under favorable geological conditions gas condensate is extracted by pumping into the seam gas from which the gasoline fraction has been removed. This method makes it possible to avoid loss of the gas condensate in the earth’s interior caused by condensation upon reduction in the formation pressure. Oil absorption or low-temperature separation is used for removing the condensate from the gas. The gas condensate extracted contains a great deal of dis-solved gas (the ethane-butane fraction), which is called the un-stable condensate. To deliver such a gas condensate to consumers in liquid form, it is stabilized by fractional distillation or held at atmospheric pressure and high temperature to remove the low-boiling fractions. The distillation is carried out in a number of stages to avoid loss of the propane-butane fractions. Unstable gas condensates are also transported by pipeline under their own pressure to petroleum refineries for removal of the low-boiling fractions and final processing.

The recovery of gas condensate from deposits is acquiring great significance in connection with the growth in natural gas production in the USSR.