Natural Gas Processing from Midstream to Downstream
by Nimir O. Elbashir, Mahmoud M. El-Halwagi, Ioannis G. Economou, Kenneth R. Hall
9 A Multicriteria Optimization Approach to the Synthesis of Shale Gas Monetization Supply Chains
Ahmad Al‐Douri1, Debalina Sengupta2, and Mahmoud M. El‐Halwagi1,2
1Department of Chemical Engineering, Texas A&M University, USA
2TEES Gas and Fuels Research Center, Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station, USA
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9.1 Introduction
With the recent discovery of unconventional shale gas resources, the potential supply of natural gas has increased significantly. Production from shale gas plays has increased from 1.3 trillion cubic feet in 2007 to 15.4 trillion cubic feet in 2015. This accounts for approximately 47% of the total United States natural gas production in 2015 (EIA 2017). There are a multitude of options for the monetization of shale gas including physical and chemical conversion of shale gas for the production of energy and chemicals (Al‐Douri, Sengupta, and El‐Halwagi 2017; Bamufleh, Noureldin, and El‐Halwagi 2016; Marano, Spivey, and Morreale 2015; Siirola, 2014). The production of chemicals is particularly attractive because of the profitability margins. Methane (the primary constituent of shale gas) can be converted to a variety of derivatives either directly or indirectly. Indirect methods of methane utilization require synthesis gas (syngas), which is composed mostly of hydrogen and carbon monoxide. Syngas may be produced by one of the following processes ...