Extended Natural Gas Analysis Using Micro GC Fusion

MEMS-based Micro GC analysis has been in use for many years and instrumentation available from several different companies. From the first commercialization of the technology, the application towards natural gas has developed and evolved over time. The fast analysis, simple operation, small size, ease of transportability and accurate/precise analysis has enabled many users to apply this GC technology to natural gas analysis, both in the laboratory and in the “portable” version.

It has been continuously demonstrated that when the Micro GC is subject to strict quality control and well-defined standard operating procedures, data obtained from Micro GC analysis is generally equivalent to that from a traditional full-featured laboratory GC or on-line GC systems. Having the ability to perform analysis in the field and connected directly to pipelines or well-heads, can reduce errors due to sample collection/handling, provides for faster and more efficient data flow and minimizes lost time in sample transporting.

This data sheet describes

A generalized procedure is described for the extended (grouping) analysis of natural gas derived from raw unprocessed gas streams using a 2-module Micro GC Fusion. This gas chromatographic (GC) protocol can be used as a guideline for determining composition of N2, methane, CO2, ethane, propane, iso-butane, n-butane, iso-pentane,
n-pentane, total hexanes (C6), total heptanes (C7), total octanes (C8) and the nonanes and heavier (C9+) components in the gas samples.

The techniques described in this paper are based in part on industry protocols, GPA Midstream GC procedures1
and guidelines in the new US rules regarding Bureau Land Management (BLM) Onshore orders for gas measurements2. Informations described in this paper can be used as a starting point to building a successful method.

Read the Application Note to find out more!