Page 19 - Handbook of Natural Gas Transmission and Processing Principles and Practices

Preface to the Fourth Edition

Natural gas is an abundant global resource and is a clean burning fuel that offers important
environmental benefits compared to other fossil fuels. Natural gas is a versatile and safe source of
energy that is necessary to bridge us to the future of renewable sources. The surge of natural gas
production from unconventional sources is remarkable and further underscores the importance of
gas processing. In this regard, it is fitting that the most up-to-date technical materials covering these
subjects be well-known to gas producers, gas processors, technical specialists, and project
developers. While many publications and books are available, there is a lack of a comprehensive
book that captures the complete natural gas value chain from well-head to the end-user. This
updated book provides the basic theoretical and practical background, while also covering
innovations and new developments in the subject areas.
Many interesting and exciting developments in the natural gas industry have emerged since the
publication of the third edition in 2015 that provoked us to add and update several sections. We
reviewed published materials and selected the most appropriate and viable innovations, combined
with our own research and practical experience for updating. The result is a more complete and
comprehensive reference that fully covers the ranges of today's challenging gas processing
problems. Six new chapters have been added to include detailed discussion of the thermodynamic
and energy efficiency of relevant processes, and innovations in processing super-rich gas, high CO 2
content gas, and high nitrogen content gas with other contaminants.
This book is a major contribution to the professional literature as we have attempted to
concentrate on what we perceive to be an acceptable design and proven practices. The organization
of content addresses the design aspects that are important to students in the engineering curricula,
and the operating and trouble-shooting facets for plant operators. We hope this handbook provides
the design reference and conveys valuable experience to both the beginners and the experienced.
The preparation of a book that covers such a broad subject requires different sources of
information. We gratefully acknowledge our indebtedness to all of the individuals who contributed
to the development of this book. An invaluable contribution to this edition is the insight by experts
in their specialties and applications. Special thanks are due to friends and colleagues, who
encouraged, assessed, and made this book possible. Among them are Dr. Louis Mattar and Dr.
Mehran Pooladi-Darvish of the Fekete Associates Inc., Canada, who prepared the section on
‘Natural Gas Exploration and Production’ in Chapter 1. We also appreciate Mr. Cris Heijckers of
Kranji Solutions Pte Ltd., Singapore, for preparing a section on ‘Practical Design of Separation
Systems’ in Chapter 5. We deeply acknowledge the greatest help of Dr. Rainer Kurz of Solar
Turbines Inc., USA, in updating Chapter 14. We thank Mr. Sidney P. Santos of At Work Rio
Engineering and Consulting Ltd., Brazil, for his constructive comments and suggestions on Chapter
15. We also express our sincere appreciation to Dr. Scott Northrop of ExxonMobil Upstream
Research Company, USA, and Mr. Michael Mitariten of Air Liquide, USA, who provided valuable
comments for the betterment of the book. Finally, we appreciate the editorial staff members of
Elsevier who have been an excellent source of strong support during the preparation and
publication of this book.
The accelerated delivery of information contained in this handbook is important as we all strive
to adapt to the latest technology in gas processing for a greener and safer environment. Our mission
is to continuously follow the progress, add new materials in the future editions, and update the
fundamental and practical materials already in this edition.

Saeid Mokhatab
William A. Poe
John Y. Mak

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