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Abstract

Natural gas is a naturally occurring mixture of simple hydrocarbons and nonhydrocarbons that exists as a gas at ordinary pressures and temperatures. In the raw state, as produced from the earth, natural gas consists principally of methane (CH4) and ethane (C2H4), with fractional amounts of propane (C3H8), butane (C4H10), and other hydrocarbons, pentane (C5H12) and heavier. Occasionally, small traces of light aromatic hydrocarbons such as benzene and toluene may also be present.

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Acknowledgement

The authors wish to acknowledge the contribution of Dr. Robert N. Maddox, late Emeritus Professor, Oklahoma State University, who first created this chapter in an earlier edition of the Handbook.

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Correspondence to James D. Idol .

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Idol, J.D., Moshfeghian, M., Johannes, A.H. (2012). Natural Gas. In: Kent, J. (eds) Handbook of Industrial Chemistry and Biotechnology. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-4259-2_20

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