Outline

1. INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................. 2
2. OBJECTIVE ...................................................................................................... 3
2.1 GENERAL OBJECTIVE .............................................................................. 3
2.2. SPECIFIC OBJECTIVE ............................................................................... 3
3. DEVELOPMENT OF TGHE TOPIC .................................................................. 3
3.1 NATURAL GAS ........................................................................................... 3
3.2 THE HYDROCARBONSS EXPLORATION.................................................. 3
3.3 EXPLORATION METHODS ........................................................................ 4
3.4 DRILLING.................................................................................................... 4
3.5 PRODUCTION ............................................................................................ 5
3.6 LIQUID SEPARATOR PLANTS .................................................................. 5
3.7 PETROCHEMICAL PLANTS OF UREA AND AMMONIA ........................... 6
3.8 THERMOELECTRIC PLANTS .................................................................... 7
4 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................... 8
5 ANNEXES ...................................................................................................... 9
6 BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................. 9
USE OF NATURAL GAS IN THE INDUSTRY OF BOLIVIA

1. INTRODUCTION

The primitive humans approximately 326 years ago already observed how, on the surface
of some marshes, flares were produced when lightning fell. These were inflamed gas
emanations that they adored in awe. It is also known that the Greek and Roman
civilizations, and some peoples of Japan and China, used gas in a very rudimentary way,
since they still did not know its nature and did not have the technology to use it in a
controlled manner. The United States was the pioneer in the exploitation of natural gas
fields, they drilled a well to obtain the gas emanating from a very shallow reservoir and
channeled it through a distribution network of wood and lead to some houses, to use it in
lighting. A century later, the same United States exploited the gas reservoirs, apart from
the oil ones, since until then the gas had been burned or reinjected into the wells to
maintain the pressure, instead of being used commercially.

In recent years, Bolivia through studies has shown a high growth in reserves of natural gas
and with it, the possibilities of the region to use this new source of energy. On the other
side, this hydrocarbon is one of the most profitable energy sources with a lower
environmental impact than conventional fuels. As a result of this energy fossil, there are
fuels such as liquefied petroleum gas, natural gasoline, domiciliary gas, the export of gas
to Argentina and Brazil, fertilizers, electric power, all this through the construction of
petrochemical plants, separating plants liquids, and thermoelectric plants

Currently, the most used energy that potentially generates income in the country is
Natural Gas. Therefore this energy is essential for the development and generation of
resources for our country, which are used in education, health and other government
programs.
2. OBJECTIVE

2.1 GENERAL OBJECTIVE

Describe the different processes in which natural gas is used as raw material

2.2. SPECIFIC OBJECTIVE

 Explain the chain of natural gas from exploration to production.

 Describe the industrial processes in which they use natural gas as a raw material.
 Know the benefits of natural gas fossil energy

3. DEVELOPMENT OF TGHE TOPIC

3.1 NATURAL GAS

Natural gas is a mixture of different hydrocarbons, usually gaseous, which is naturally

produced in the subsoil. It usually appears toguether to the Petroleum, in the upper part of
the same reservoirs, and the composition, like that of the crude, varies depending on
where it comes from. It is formed when several layers of decaying plants and animal
matter are exposed to intense heat and pressure under the Earth's surface for millions of
years.

3.2 THE HYDROCARBONSS EXPLORATION

Exploration is the term used in the oil industry to designate the search for oil or gas. The
methods used are very varied: from the geological study of the rock formations that are
surfacing on the surface to indirect observation, through various instruments and
exploration techniques.

Oil and natural gas is buried at depths ranging from a few meters to almost 6000 meters.
The hydrocarbon is imprisoned in the depths because it can not move between
impermeable rocks or structural faults, resulting in the formation of natural traps.

To detect the places (traps) where the oil is located, the exploration is carried out,
performing tests that determine the area in which there is a greater probability of finding it.
There are several methods of exploration, the seismic being the most reliable. Seismic
uses waves that travel through the strata and, when they return to the surface, they "draw"
the configuration of the inner layers of the earth. It is a system that was adopted by
medicine to obtain ultrasounds.

The maps elaborated to allow to choose the best places to drill the exploratory well
destined to verify the presence of oil or gas. Drilling a well is a very expensive operation,
so the main purpose of the exploration tasks is to reduce the chances that the well to be
drilled will be dry.

3.3 EXPLORATION METHODS

a) Geological exploration: method by which the geologist observes and examines the
layers of the earth's crust that are seen on the surface, the types of rocks that emerge and
their characteristics of hardness, porosity, organic content, age and structural conditions.

b) Geophysical exploration: it is based on the fact that the rocks that constitute the earth's
crust have different physical properties, which will allow to calculate the constitution and
depth of the rocks of the subsoil. There are two fundamental support tools in this case: the
gravimeter (which measures the force of the earth's gravity and provides information on
the nature and depth of the strata); and the magnometometer (which measures the
magnetic force of the earth, registering variations according to the nature and depth of the
terrestrial layers).

c) Seismic exploration: it consists of studying the structure of the subsoil by measuring the
transit time of the acoustic waves, placing explosive charges in shallow wells specially
drilled. The seismic in the sea is basically equal to the terrestrial one. It works with air
bubbles whose explosion is recorded in the geophysical ships, which drag at a shallow
depth the hydrophones (geophones) that will receive the reflected waves. Marine
recognition is faster and the quality of information is better than in terrestrial.

3.4 DRILLING

The analysis of the information obtained in the exploration allows to establish the areas
that due to their characteristics may contain mantles with hydrocarbon deposits. If after
performing this process, the chances of finding hydrocarbons are high, drilling is carried
out. This can be on land or at sea. It can be vertical, horizontal or directed (with a certain
angle of inclination). These factors depend on the shape of the reservoirs and the type of
terrain to be drilled.
Drilling a well is the only way to be sure of the presence of hydrocarbons in the subsoil.
Despite technological advances in geophysical tools, certainty is reached only after drilling.

The drilling stage begins with the conditioning of the land through the construction of
"ironing" and access roads, since the drilling equipment mobilizes bulky and heavy tools
and vehicles. The first wells are exploratory in nature, these are done in order to locate the
areas where hydrocarbon is located, then the development wells will come.

3.5 PRODUCTION

The next step to oil drilling is known as Production, during which phase it is sought to
extract the hydrocarbon (oil or gas) from a reservoir to the well and from there to the
surface; where they are separated, treated, stored, measured and transported for later
use, production is part of the chain of activities carried out by the oil industry.

After performing the drilling, production tests must be run to check how much the well and
the radius of drainage can produce. It is also necessary to develop the field, this is
achieved by drilling more wells, until covering the entire field. The fluids of a reservoir (oil,
gas, water) enter the wells driven by the pressure to which they are confined in it. If the
pressure is sufficient, the well will be "surgente" that is to say that it produces without need
of aid. But in most cases this natural upwelling decreases and the well stops producing. To
proceed with the extraction, artificial production methods are used.

The mechanism of natural upwelling is the most economical, since the energy is
contributed by the same reservoir. The production controls are carried out on the surface
by means of the so-called "Christmas tree", composed of a series of valves that allow the
well to be opened and closed at will. The upwelling is regulated by a small hole whose
diameter will depend on the production regime that is wanted to be given to the well. When
the natural energy that pushes the fluids is no longer sufficient, artificial methods are used
to continue extracting the oil. With the artificial extraction begins the most expensive phase
of the exploitation of the reservoir.

3.6 LIQUID SEPARATOR PLANTS

a) Liquid separator plants Rio Grande

The process begins with the intake of natural gas from the Gasyrg gas pipeline. Followed
by a dehydration stage, Treatment and preinframientp through cooling systems using
different refrigerants.

Subsequently, the gas enters the area known as cryogenics where, through an expansion
process, it is cooled until reaching temperatures of -0 ° C, conditions in which the
formation of liquids takes place, which in later stages are separated into columns or
special fractionating towers (deetanizadora, debitanizadora and deisopentanozadora) that
achieve the separation of LPG, natural gasoline, leaving as waste gas approximately 95%
of the initial gas stream.

b) Liquid separation plants Gran Chaco

The Complex has a cryogenic area in which the separation of liquids from the natural gas
stream that is sent to Argentina takes place.

The aforementioned area has cryogenic and fractionation columns to obtain ethane,
liquefied petroleum gas, isopentane and natural gas.

This whole process of multiple separation is called fractionation, thereThis is the

importance, above all, of the main tower, which is 64 meters long and has a diameter of 20
mts, which is the tower that makes the first separation of the liquids in the cryogenic area.

The rich natural gas, which contains methane, ethane, propane, butane, carbon dioxide,
and other compounds that come from the megacamps - Sabalo, San Alberto and
Margarita - feeds this enormous complex through the Juana Azurduy integration gas
pipeline.

3.7 PETROCHEMICAL PLANTS OF UREA AND AMMONIA

Through a chemical process in a reactor, natural gas (methane) is converted into ammonia
in a first phase. That chemical has different industrial uses, but in the case of Bolivia the
decision was made to use it as raw material so that in another reactor it undergoes
chemical processes and urea is obtained as a final product. The production of ammonia
and urea in the plant is described below.

The Ammonia Plant is based on the Kellogg Brown & Root Purification Process (KBR)
through a process of reforming natural gas offered and licensed by this technology
company. The design of the Ammonia Plant was defined to produce 1,200 TMD of
ammonia. Then this product is sent to the Urea Plant for conversion.

The stages of the process consist of: primary reforming, process air compression and gas
turbine driven, secondary reformation, carbon monoxide exchange conversion, carbon
dioxide removal, methane, drying, cryogenic purification, gas compression synthesis,
ammonia synthesis and ammonia refrigeration.

The Urea Plant is divided into two major sections: Synthesis Area and Granulation Area.
The plant is based on the technology of the licensing company Toyo Engineering
Corporation (TEC), the first with the ACES21® process and the second with the
Granulated Process with Fluidized Bed Spray. The Urea Plant is designed to produce
granulated urea based on ammonia and carbon dioxide. Each unit mentioned above
consists of the following sections:

Synthesis unit

Ammonia and CO2 Compression Section • Synthesis Section • Purification Section •

Concentration Section • Recovery Section • Process Condensate Treatment Section

Granulation unit

• Granulation Section • Recovery Section • Dusting and Recovery Section. Then the
granulated urea goes to the sections of storage, bagging and final dispatch.

3.8 THERMOELECTRIC PLANTS

Classic power stations or conventional cycle power plants are called those thermal power
plants that use the combustion of coal, oil (petroleum) or natural gas to generate
electricity. In the case of Bolivia, thermoelectric plants use natural gas due to the large
amounts of reserves that the country has.

They are considered the most economical power plants, so their use is widespread in the
economically advanced world and in the developing world, although they are being
criticized due to their high environmental impact.

The operation diagram of a conventional cycle coal or gas thermal power plant is shown in
the appendices. Basically, the operation of this type of power station is the same
regardless of the fuel that is consumed. Thus, it burns in the boiler, releasing heat that is
used to heat water.

The heated water will be transformed into steam with a very high pressure, which is what
turns a steam turbine, which will transform the internal energy of the steam into
mechanical energy (rotation of an axis).

The production of electricity will be generated in the alternator, by the rotation of the rotor
(which shares the same axis as the steam turbine) and by electromagnetic induction. The
electricity generated passes through a transformer, which will increase its tension for
transport.

The steam that leaves the steam turbine is sent to a condenser (thermodynamics) to
transform it into liquid and return it to the boiler to start again a new cycle of steam
production.

The thermoelectric plants in Bolivia as the National Electricity Company (ENDE) has 8
units, and the Andean ENDE has 4 thermoelectric generation units. The Bolivian
Hydroelectric Plant (HB) has 4 units, two of which are the largest hydroelectric plants in
the country, one of 38.4 megawatts (MW) and the other of 51.1 MW.

4 CONCLUSION

Natural gas is colorless, odorless and lighter than air, it is also a clean, safe and cheap
fuel. In comparison with other fuels it is very economical. The pipes used in its transport
are buried underground in conditions of absolute safety.

Natural gas is a very useful fuel in the life of modern man. At home, gas is used to cook
food, heat water, dry clothes and heat buildings in cold weather. Natural gas also has
applications, as a source of hot and as an input to produce other products. In the electricity
sector it is of enormous importance to generate electricity.

Another characteristic of natural gas is that it has a greater degree of security for those
who use it. Being lighter than air, for those cases where there is an escape, it easily
dissipates into the atmosphere.

All these benefits are palpable for users and for society as a whole

• Contributes to the use of our natural resources

• It has a more efficient burning producing more energy

• Cleaner combustion. benefit in the local environment

• Less impact on the greenhouse effect, benefit in the global environment

5 ANNEXES

6 BIBLIOGRAPHY

http://www.exploradores.org.pe/hidrocarburos/como-se-producen-los-hidrocarburos/la-
exploracion-de-hidrocarburos.html

https://www.ypfb.gob.bo/es/14-noticias/161--planta-petroquimica-de-plasticos.html
http://www.endeandina.bo/

https://www.pge.utexas.edu/about/petroleum