79-687: Didcot power station (Didcot B Power Station) is an active natural gas power plant that supplies the National Grid . A combined coal and oil power plant , Didcot A, was the first station on the site, which opened in 1970 and was demolished between 2014 and 2020. The power station is situated in Sutton Courtenay , near Didcot in Oxfordshire , England. Didcot OCGT is a gas-oil power plant, originally part of Didcot A and now independent. It continues to provide emergency backup power for
158-489: A steam turbine . On 19 October 2014 just after 8pm, three of the mechanical wooden cooling towers serving one of the steam turbines at Didcot B caught fire. Two of the fifteen fan-assisted cooling towers in the row were completely destroyed, one was seriously damaged, and one suffered light damage. The cause was probably an electrical fault in one of the cooling fans. RWE Npower got half the plant back into operation on 20 October 2014. The other half remained out of action until
237-413: A "major incident" shortly thereafter. Initial reports of an explosion were ruled out by police after being reported in the media for several hours following the incident. The boiler house was a steel framed building with the boilers suspended from the superstructure and above ground level to allow for their expansion. At the time of the collapse it was being prepared for explosive demolition on 5 March,
316-481: A density 0.5539 times that of air (0.678 kg per standard cubic meter). In the early 1800s, natural gas became known as "natural" to distinguish it from the dominant gas fuel at the time, coal gas . Unlike coal gas, which is manufactured by heating coal, natural gas can be extracted from the ground in its native gaseous form. When the use of natural gas overtook the use of coal gas in English speaking countries in
395-484: A major source of natural gas in the United States and Canada. Because of increased shale gas production the United States was in 2014 the number one natural gas producer in the world. The production of shale gas in the United States has been described as a "shale gas revolution" and as "one of the landmark events in the 21st century." Following the increased production in the United States, shale gas exploration
474-519: A new nuclear power station but, as of August 2019, nothing further had been heard of the proposal. The three southern cooling towers of Didcot A were demolished by explosives on Sunday 27 July 2014 at 05:01 BST. There had been a campaign to move the time of the demolition to 6 a.m. or later to enable local people to watch the demolition more conveniently, but RWE refused. Despite the early morning demolition, many thousands of people turned out to watch from vantage points, as well as those who watched
553-484: A pipeline to former quarries in Radley . On the morning of Thursday 2 November 2006, 30 Greenpeace trespassers invaded the power station. One group chained themselves to a broken coal-carrying conveyor belt. A second group scaled the 650 ft high chimney, and set up a 'climate camp'. They proceeded to paint " Blair 's Legacy" on the side of the chimney overlooking the town. Greenpeace asserted that Didcot Power Station
632-413: A process which involved cutting the structure to weaken it. On 17 July 2016, what remained of the structure was demolished in a controlled explosion by Alford Technologies. The bodies of the three missing men were still in the remains at that time. A spokesman said that due to the instability of the structure, they had been unable to recover the bodies. Robots were used to place the explosive charges due to
711-542: A synthetic crude that can be further refined into finished products, while MTG can produce synthetic gasoline from natural gas. STG+ can produce drop-in gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and aromatic chemicals directly from natural gas via a single-loop process. In 2011, Royal Dutch Shell's 140,000 barrels (22,000 m ) per day F–T plant went into operation in Qatar . Natural gas can be "associated" (found in oil fields ), or "non-associated" (isolated in natural gas fields ), and
790-493: Is a flammable gaseous fuel made by the destructive distillation of coal . It contains a variety of calorific gases including hydrogen , carbon monoxide , methane , and other volatile hydrocarbons , together with small quantities of non-calorific gases such as carbon dioxide and nitrogen , and was used in a similar way to natural gas. This is a historical technology and is not usually economically competitive with other sources of fuel gas today. Most town "gashouses" located in
869-421: Is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane (95%) in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes . Traces of carbon dioxide , nitrogen , hydrogen sulfide , and helium are also usually present. Methane is colorless and odorless, and the second largest greenhouse gas contributor to global climate change after carbon dioxide. Because natural gas
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#1732791128460948-458: Is a schematic block flow diagram of a typical natural gas processing plant. It shows the various unit processes used to convert raw natural gas into sales gas pipelined to the end user markets. The block flow diagram also shows how processing of the raw natural gas yields byproduct sulfur, byproduct ethane, and natural gas liquids (NGL) propane, butanes and natural gasoline (denoted as pentanes +). As of mid-2020, natural gas production in
1027-399: Is also found in coal beds (as coalbed methane ). It sometimes contains a significant amount of ethane , propane , butane , and pentane —heavier hydrocarbons removed for commercial use prior to the methane being sold as a consumer fuel or chemical plant feedstock. Non-hydrocarbons such as carbon dioxide , nitrogen , helium (rarely), and hydrogen sulfide must also be removed before
1106-628: Is beginning in countries such as Poland, China, and South Africa. Chinese geologists have identified the Sichuan Basin as a promising target for shale gas drilling, because of the similarity of shales to those that have proven productive in the United States. Production from the Wei-201 well is between 10,000 and 20,000 m per day. In late 2020, China National Petroleum Corporation claimed daily production of 20 million cubic meters of gas from its Changning-Weiyuan demonstration zone. Town gas
1185-537: Is estimated to have 51,000 cubic kilometers (12,000 cu mi) of natural gas and 50 billion barrels (7.9 billion cubic meters) of natural gas condensates . Because natural gas is not a pure product, as the reservoir pressure drops when non-associated gas is extracted from a field under supercritical (pressure/temperature) conditions, the higher molecular weight components may partially condense upon isothermic depressurizing—an effect called retrograde condensation . The liquid thus formed may get trapped as
1264-694: Is heated and compressed deep underground. Methanogenic organisms produce methane from a variety of sources, principally carbon dioxide. During petroleum production, natural gas is sometimes flared rather than being collected and used. Before natural gas can be burned as a fuel or used in manufacturing processes, it almost always has to be processed to remove impurities such as water. The byproducts of this processing include ethane , propane , butanes , pentanes , and higher molecular weight hydrocarbons. Hydrogen sulfide (which may be converted into pure sulfur ), carbon dioxide , water vapor , and sometimes helium and nitrogen must also be removed. Natural gas
1343-403: Is natural gas produced from shale . Because shale's matrix permeability is too low to allow gas to flow in economical quantities, shale gas wells depend on fractures to allow the gas to flow. Early shale gas wells depended on natural fractures through which gas flowed; almost all shale gas wells today require fractures artificially created by hydraulic fracturing . Since 2000, shale gas has become
1422-408: Is odorless, odorizers such as mercaptan (which smells like rotten eggs ) are commonly added to it for safety so that leaks can be readily detected. Natural gas is a fossil fuel that is formed when layers of organic matter (primarily marine microorganisms) decompose under anaerobic conditions and are subjected to intense heat and pressure underground over millions of years. The energy that
1501-406: Is often stored underground [references about geological storage needed]inside depleted gas reservoirs from previous gas wells, salt domes , or in tanks as liquefied natural gas. The gas is injected in a time of low demand and extracted when demand picks up. Storage nearby end users helps to meet volatile demands, but such storage may not always be practicable. With 15 countries accounting for 84% of
1580-452: Is preparing to export natural gas. Floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) is an innovative technology designed to enable the development of offshore gas resources that would otherwise remain untapped due to environmental or economic factors which currently make them impractical to develop via a land-based LNG operation. FLNG technology also provides a number of environmental and economic advantages: Many gas and oil companies are considering
1659-548: Is primarily dependent on proximity to markets (pipelines), and regulatory restrictions. Natural gas can be indirectly exported through the absorption in other physical output. The expansion of shale gas production in the US has caused prices to drop relative to other countries. This has caused a boom in energy intensive manufacturing sector exports, whereby the average dollar unit of US manufacturing exports has almost tripled its energy content between 1996 and 2012. A "master gas system"
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#17327911284601738-429: Is primarily used in the northern hemisphere. North America and Europe are major consumers. Often well head gases require removal of various hydrocarbon molecules contained within the gas. Some of these gases include heptane , pentane , propane and other hydrocarbons with molecular weights above methane ( CH 4 ). The natural gas transmission lines extend to the natural gas processing plant or unit which removes
1817-716: Is sometimes informally referred to simply as "gas", especially when it is being compared to other energy sources, such as oil, coal or renewables. However, it is not to be confused with gasoline , which is also shortened in colloquial usage to "gas", especially in North America. Natural gas is measured in standard cubic meters or standard cubic feet . The density compared to air ranges from 0.58 (16.8 g/mole, 0.71 kg per standard cubic meter) to as high as 0.79 (22.9 g/mole, 0.97 kg per scm), but generally less than 0.64 (18.5 g/mole, 0.78 kg per scm). For comparison, pure methane (16.0425 g/mole) has
1896-577: Is the newer sibling, initially owned by National Power . It was constructed from 1994-7 by Siemens and National Power's in house project team. It uses a combined cycle gas turbine type power plant to generate up to 1,440 MWe of electricity. It opened in July 1997. It consists of two 680 MWe modules, each with two 230 MW SGT5-4000F (former V94.3A) Siemens gas turbines . It has two heat recovery steam generators , built by International Combustion , since 1997 known as ABB Combustion Services , and
1975-604: Is traded on a "dry gas" basis and is required to be commercially free from objectionable odours, materials, and dust or other solid or liquid matter, waxes, gums and gum forming constituents, which might damage or adversely affect operation of equipment downstream of the custody transfer point. LNG carrier ships transport liquefied natural gas (LNG) across oceans, while tank trucks can carry LNG or compressed natural gas (CNG) over shorter distances. Sea transport using CNG carrier ships that are now under development may be competitive with LNG transport in specific conditions. Gas
2054-409: Is transported at high pressure, typically above 200 bars (20,000 kPa; 2,900 psi). Compressors and decompression equipment are less capital intensive and may be economical in smaller unit sizes than liquefaction/regasification plants. Natural gas trucks and carriers may transport natural gas directly to end-users, or to distribution points such as pipelines. In the past, the natural gas which
2133-416: Is turned into liquid at a liquefaction plant, and is returned to gas form at regasification plant at the terminal . Shipborne regasification equipment is also used. LNG is the preferred form for long distance, high volume transportation of natural gas, whereas pipeline is preferred for transport for distances up to 4,000 km (2,500 mi) over land and approximately half that distance offshore. CNG
2212-605: The Central Electricity Generating Board began during 1964, and was completed in 1968 at a cost of £104m. Up to 2,400 workers were employed at peak times. The station began generating power on 30 September 1970. It was located on a 1.2 square kilometres (300 acres) site, formerly part of the Ministry of Defence Central Ordnance Depot. A vote was held in Didcot and surrounding villages on whether
2291-427: The supply chain can result in natural gas having a similar carbon footprint to other fossil fuels overall. Natural gas can be found in underground geological formations , often alongside other fossil fuels like coal and oil (petroleum). Most natural gas has been created through either biogenic or thermogenic processes. Thermogenic gas takes a much longer period of time to form and is created when organic matter
2370-456: The "carefully designed" setting and Gibberd's detailing, there were better examples elsewhere. The station ceased operation on 22 March 2013. The station used four 500 MWe generating units. In 2003 Didcot A burnt 3.7 Mt of coal. The station burned mostly pulverised coal , but later also co-fired with natural gas . Didcot was the first large power station to be converted to have this function. A small amount of biomass , such as sawdust,
2449-548: The 19th century, natural gas was primarily obtained as a by-product of producing oil . The small, light gas carbon chains came out of solution as the extracted fluids underwent pressure reduction from the reservoir to the surface, similar to uncapping a soft drink bottle where the carbon dioxide effervesces . The gas was often viewed as a by-product, a hazard, and a disposal problem in active oil fields. The large volumes produced could not be used until relatively expensive pipeline and storage facilities were constructed to deliver
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2528-406: The 20th century, it was increasingly referred to as simply "gas." In order to highlight its role in exacerbating the climate crisis , however, many organizations have criticized the continued use of the word "natural" in referring to the gas. These advocates prefer the term "fossil gas" or "methane gas" as better conveying to the public its climate threat. A 2020 study of Americans' perceptions of
2607-470: The Didcot tragedy is delay. Delay in getting the men out and home, delays in gathering evidence, delay in communicating with the families, and now the ultimate insult – an eight-year delay in securing justice and finding out the truth of what caused the collapse. Still, we have no court date. Sarah Champion , MP for Rotherham where two of the victims lived By July 2024, there had been no further conclusion or updates. In September 2024, Champion wrote to
2686-584: The National Grid. A large section of the boiler house at Didcot A Power Station collapsed on 23 February 2016 while the building was being prepared for demolition. Four men were killed in the collapse. The combined power stations featured a chimney , demolished in 2020, which was one of the tallest structures in the UK , and could be seen from much of the surrounding landscape. It previously had six hyperboloid cooling towers , with three demolished in 2014 and
2765-1892: The Oxford area remodelling. The technical specifications below were correct as at time of commissioning. Later modifications may have changed these. Manufacturer: C.A. Parsons & Co, Ltd H.P. cylinder steam: Inlet 158.6 bar (2,300 lb/sq.in.) at 565 °C Exhaust 42.0 bar (610 lb/sq.in.) at 365 °C I.P. cylinder steam: 39.0 bar (565 lb/sq.in) at 565 °C Condenser Vacuum: -965 mbar (28.5 Hg) Manufacturer: C.A. Parsons & Co, Ltd Maximum continuous rating: 500 MW at 23,500 volts Phase current: Three phases at 14,450 amps each Efficiency: 98.63% Stator cooling: Demineralised water Rotor cooling: Hydrogen Manufacturer: Babcock & Wilcox Ltd Maximum continuous rating: 422 kg/s (3,350,000 lb/hr) Efficiency: 90.76% Steam at superheater: 165.5 bars (2,400 lb/sq.in.) at 568 °C. Steam at reheater outlet: 40.3 bars (585 lb/sq.in.) at 568 °C. Feed water temperature: 256 °C. Type of firing: Front face, 48 burners Dimensions of furnace: 29.6 m (97 ft) wide 9.1 m (30 ft) deep 45.7 m (150 ft) high Number of cooling towers: 6 Cooling tower capacity: 11.4 cubic meters per second (150,000 gal/min.) each Cooling tower dimensions: Height: 114 m (374 ft) Diameter: base 91 m (299 ft), top 54 m (176 ft) Thickness: 0.6m (23 in.) tapering to 0.2m (7 in.) Total evaporation in six towers: 59 x 103 cubic meters/day (13m gal/day) Water temperature fall in tower: 10 °C Condenser water flow: 17.0 cubic meters per second (225,000 gal/min) Water temperature rise in condenser: 10 °C Circulating water pump capacity: 18.2 cubic meters per second (240,000 gal/minute) Make-up water taken from
2844-516: The Power Station. Rail facilities included a west-facing inlet connection and an east-facing station outlet connection to the GWML, hopper lines No. 1 and No. 2, and injectors for fly ash on a dust and ash disposal loop. The loop has not been used since the station's closure in 2013. The track has been partially lifted for construction of a new warehouse on the site of the old coal pits. The coal
2923-793: The River Thames (max): 45m gal/day Water returned to the River Thames: 32m gal/day Manufacturer: Babcock-Moxey Ltd. Train capacity: 1,016 tonnes (1,000 tons), 32.5 tonnes (32 tons) per wagon Quantity of coal used per day (max): 18,289 tonnes (18,000 tons) Dimensions: 199 m (654 ft) high Base Diameter: 23 m (75 ft) Number of flues: 4 Gas at exit: 97 km/h (60 mph) at 100 °C. Induced draught fan motor: 1,710 kW (2,290 hp) Forced draught fan motor: 1,200 kW (1,600 hp) Circulating water pump motor: 6,150 kW (8,250 hp) Feed pump motor: 6,410 kW (8,600 hp) Didcot B
3002-432: The US had peaked three times, with current levels exceeding both previous peaks. It reached 24.1 trillion cubic feet per year in 1973, followed by a decline, and reached 24.5 trillion cubic feet in 2001. After a brief drop, withdrawals increased nearly every year since 2006 (owing to the shale gas boom ), with 2017 production at 33.4 trillion cubic feet and 2019 production at 40.7 trillion cubic feet. After
3081-427: The US, over one-third of households (>40 million homes) cook with gas. Natural gas dispensed in a residential setting can generate temperatures in excess of 1,100 °C (2,000 °F) making it a powerful domestic cooking and heating fuel. Stanford scientists estimated that gas stoves emit 0.8–1.3% of the gas they use as unburned methane and that total U.S. stove emissions are 28.1 gigagrams of methane. In much of
3160-523: The United States begins with localized use. In the seventeenth century, French missionaries witnessed the American Indians setting fire to natural gas seeps around lake Erie, and scattered observations of these seeps were made by European-descended settlers throughout the eastern seaboard through the 1700s. In 1821, William Hart dug the first commercial natural gas well in the United States at Fredonia, New York , United States, which led in 1858 to
3239-702: The bottoms of the gashouse ovens was often used for roofing and other waterproofing purposes, and when mixed with sand and gravel was used for paving streets. Huge quantities of natural gas (primarily methane) exist in the form of clathrates under sediment on offshore continental shelves and on land in arctic regions that experience permafrost , such as those in Siberia . Hydrates require a combination of high pressure and low temperature to form. In 2013, Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation (JOGMEC) announced that they had recovered commercially relevant quantities of natural gas from methane hydrate. The image below
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3318-436: The danger and the site was demolished just after 6 o'clock in the morning (BST). The families said that they wanted their dead relatives back in one piece, not hundreds of pieces but the demolition company highlighted the inherent danger of rescue operations citing that "legally you could not justify humans going back in." The search for the missing men continued the day after the controlled demolition. On 31 August 2016, it
3397-654: The decayed organisms originally obtained from the sun via photosynthesis is stored as chemical energy within the molecules of methane and other hydrocarbons. Natural gas can be burned for heating, cooking, and electricity generation . Consisting mainly of methane, natural gas is rarely used as a chemical feedstock . The extraction and consumption of natural gas is a major industry. When burned for heat or electricity , natural gas emits fewer toxic air pollutants, less carbon dioxide, and almost no particulate matter compared to other fossil and biomass fuels. However, gas venting and unintended fugitive emissions throughout
3476-445: The developed world it is supplied through pipes to homes, where it is used for many purposes including ranges and ovens, heating / cooling , outdoor and portable grills , and central heating . Heaters in homes and other buildings may include boilers, furnaces , and water heaters . Both North America and Europe are major consumers of natural gas. Large Combustion Plant Directive Too Many Requests If you report this error to
3555-446: The eastern US in the late 19th and early 20th centuries were simple by-product coke ovens that heated bituminous coal in air-tight chambers. The gas driven off from the coal was collected and distributed through networks of pipes to residences and other buildings where it was used for cooking and lighting. (Gas heating did not come into widespread use until the last half of the 20th century.) The coal tar (or asphalt ) that collected in
3634-446: The economic and environmental benefits of floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG). There are currently projects underway to construct five FLNG facilities. Petronas is close to completion on their FLNG-1 at Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering and are underway on their FLNG-2 project at Samsung Heavy Industries . Shell Prelude is due to start production 2017. The Browse LNG project will commence FEED in 2019. Natural gas
3713-497: The formation of the Fredonia Gas Light Company . Further such ventures followed near wells in other states, until technological innovations allowed the growth of major long distance pipelines from the 1920s onward. By 2009, 66,000 km (16,000 cu mi) (or 8%) had been used out of the total 850,000 km (200,000 cu mi) of estimated remaining recoverable reserves of natural gas. In
3792-518: The four boilers to reduce emissions of nitrous oxide . This ensured compliance with the Large Combustion Plant Directive . Some ash from Didcot A was used to manufacture building blocks at a factory on the adjacent Milton Park and transported to Thatcham (near Newbury, Berkshire) for the manufacture of Thermalite aerated breeze blocks using both decarbonized fly and raw ash, but most was mixed with water and pumped via
3871-422: The four damage cooling towers were repaired. The station returned to full operation in 2015. Didcot OCGT is an Open Cycle Gas Turbine that was originally part of Didcot A. Built in 1968, it uses four open-cycle gas turbines, which are each powered by a pair of Rolls-Royce Avon engines to generate 100MW of electricity. The site was made separate from the Didcot A station as part of the decommissioning process. It
3950-461: The fuel found that, across political identifications, the term "methane gas" led to better estimates of its harms and risks. Natural gas can come out of the ground and cause a long-burning fire. In ancient Greece , the gas flames at Mount Chimaera contributed to the legend of the fire-breathing creature Chimera . In ancient China , gas resulting from the drilling for brines was first used by about 400 BC. The Chinese transported gas seeping from
4029-435: The gas needs to be cooled down and compressed, as the friction in the pipeline causes the gas to heat up. Many existing pipelines in the US are close to reaching their capacity, prompting some politicians representing northern states to speak of potential shortages. The large trade cost implies that natural gas markets are globally much less integrated, causing significant price differences across countries. In Western Europe ,
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#17327911284604108-517: The gas pipeline network is already dense. New pipelines are planned or under construction between Western Europe and the Near East or Northern Africa . Whenever gas is bought or sold at custody transfer points, rules and agreements are made regarding the gas quality. These may include the maximum allowable concentration of CO 2 , H 2 S and H 2 O . Usually sales quality gas that has been treated to remove contamination
4187-896: The gas to consumer markets. Until the early part of the 20th century, most natural gas associated with oil was either simply released or burned off at oil fields. Gas venting and production flaring are still practised in modern times, but efforts are ongoing around the world to retire them, and to replace them with other commercially viable and useful alternatives. In addition to transporting gas via pipelines for use in power generation, other end uses for natural gas include export as liquefied natural gas (LNG) or conversion of natural gas into other liquid products via gas to liquids (GTL) technologies. GTL technologies can convert natural gas into liquids products such as gasoline, diesel or jet fuel. A variety of GTL technologies have been developed, including Fischer–Tropsch (F–T), methanol to gasoline (MTG) and syngas to gasoline plus (STG+). F–T produces
4266-526: The ground in crude pipelines of bamboo to where it was used to boil salt water to extract the salt in the Ziliujing District of Sichuan . Natural gas was not widely used before the development of long distance pipelines in the early twentieth century. Before that, most use was near to the source of the well, and the predominant gas for fuel and lighting during the industrial revolution was manufactured coal gas. The history of natural gas in
4345-442: The higher-molecular weight hydrocarbons to produce natural gas with energy content between 35–39 megajoules per cubic metre (950–1,050 British thermal units per cubic foot). The processed natural gas may then be used for residential, commercial and industrial uses. Natural gas flowing in the distribution lines is called mid-stream natural gas and is often used to power engines which rotate compressors. These compressors are required in
4424-612: The largest proven gas reserves. Sources that consider that Russia has by far the largest proven reserves include the US Central Intelligence Agency (47,600 km ) and Energy Information Administration (47,800 km ), as well as the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (48,700 km ). Contrarily, BP credits Russia with only 32,900 km , which would place it in second, slightly behind Iran (33,100 to 33,800 km , depending on
4503-481: The main building. The original design was for eight cooling towers but the consultant architect Frederick Gibberd proposed that the number be reduced to six to mitigate the visual impact of the station. The consequent limitation in cooling capability reduced the overall thermal efficiency of the power station. English Heritage declined to give listed building status to Didcot A Power Station in 2013. Though it recognised there were some interesting features, for example
4582-433: The natural gas can be transported. Natural gas extracted from oil wells is called casinghead gas (whether or not truly produced up the annulus and through a casinghead outlet) or associated gas. The natural gas industry is extracting an increasing quantity of gas from challenging, unconventional resource types : sour gas , tight gas , shale gas , and coalbed methane . There is some disagreement on which country has
4661-402: The new Labour policing minister Diana Johnson to complain about the "insulting" delay in concluding the investigation into the collapse and asking Johnson to clarify when the probe might be concluded. During the demolition of the three remaining cooling towers on 18 August 2019, debris from one of the collapsing towers hit a nearby pylon, causing it to explode and catch fire. The substation
4740-441: The pores of the gas reservoir get depleted. One method to deal with this problem is to re-inject dried gas free of condensate to maintain the underground pressure and to allow re-evaporation and extraction of condensates. More frequently, the liquid condenses at the surface, and one of the tasks of the gas plant is to collect this condensate. The resulting liquid is called natural gas liquid (NGL) and has commercial value. Shale gas
4819-407: The power station should be built. There was strong opposition from Sutton Courtenay but the yes vote was carried, due to the number of jobs that would be created in the area. The main chimney was 200 m (660 ft) tall with the six cooling towers 114 m (374 ft) each. The cooling towers were arranged in two groups of three. These were located to the north west and to the south of
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#17327911284604898-480: The remaining three in 2019. RWE Npower applied for a certificate of immunity from English Heritage, to stop the towers being listed, to allow their destruction. In February 2020, the final chimney of Didcot A was demolished. Didcot A Power Station was a coal and gas-fired power station designed by architect Frederick Gibberd . One of the Hinton Heavies , construction of the 2,000 MWe power station for
4977-550: The source). It is estimated that there are about 900,000 km of "unconventional" gas such as shale gas, of which 180,000 km may be recoverable. In turn, many studies from MIT , Black & Veatch and the US Department of Energy predict that natural gas will account for a larger portion of electricity generation and heat in the future. The world's largest gas field is the offshore South Pars / North Dome Gas-Condensate field , shared between Iran and Qatar. It
5056-654: The third peak in December 2019, extraction continued to fall from March onward due to decreased demand caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in the US . The 2021 global energy crisis was driven by a global surge in demand as the world quit the economic recession caused by COVID-19, particularly due to strong energy demand in Asia. Because of its low density, it is not easy to store natural gas or to transport it by vehicle. Natural gas pipelines are impractical across oceans, since
5135-431: The towers come down via a live Internet stream. The event trended on Twitter with the hashtag #DidcotDemolition. The three remaining cooling towers were demolished by explosion early on 18 August 2019. The chimney was demolished at 07:30 GMT on 9 February 2020. On 23 February 2016, a large section of the former boiler house at Didcot A power station collapsed while the building was being prepared for demolition. One person
5214-412: The transmission line to pressurize and repressurize the mid-stream natural gas as the gas travels. Typically, natural gas powered engines require 35–39 MJ/m (950–1,050 BTU/cu ft) natural gas to operate at the rotational name plate specifications. Several methods are used to remove these higher molecular weighted gases for use by the natural gas engine. A few technologies are as follows: In
5293-502: The worldwide extraction, access to natural gas has become an important issue in international politics, and countries vie for control of pipelines. In the first decade of the 21st century, Gazprom , the state-owned energy company in Russia, engaged in disputes with Ukraine and Belarus over the price of natural gas, which have created concerns that gas deliveries to parts of Europe could be cut off for political reasons. The United States
5372-468: Was a possibility that Didcot A might be modernised with new super-clean coal burning capabilities; with RWE partly involved in the study, however in September 2012 RWE Npower announced that Didcot A using its current coal burning capabilities would close at the end of March 2013. On 22 March 2013, Didcot A closed and the de-commissioning process began. In 2007, Didcot was identified as a possible site for
5451-765: Was burned at the plant. This was introduced to try to depend more on renewable sources following the introduction of the Kyoto Protocol and, in April 2002, the Renewables Obligation . It was hoped that biomass could replace 2% of coal burnt. In 1996 and 1997, Thales UK was awarded contracts by Innogy, now Npower , to implement the APMS supervisory and control system on all of the four units, then enabling optimised emissions monitoring and reporting. Between 2005 and 2007 Didcot installed overfire air systems on
5530-430: Was confirmed that a body had been found in the rubble and the search had been paused to allow specialist teams to recover the body. On 3 September the body was identified as Christopher Huxtable from Swansea. On 8 September 2016 police confirmed they had found the body of one of the remaining two missing men. On 9 September, the body was formally identified as that of missing workman Ken Cresswell. The last missing worker
5609-598: Was first supplied from the Nottingham coalfields, then from South Wales or Avonmouth when the Northern coal pits were closed. The service from South Wales was usually operated by one Class 66 locomotive pulling 25 EWS Coal Cars. The service ran from Avonmouth in Bristol, down the main line, reversing at Didcot Parkway and into the power station. The connections to the main line were severed in mid-2018 in association with
5688-558: Was found on 9 September. He was identified as John Shaw from Rotherham. In 2018, Coleman and Company who were doing the demolition announced they were stepping down from the demolition, they were replaced by Brown and Mason. As of February 2024, an investigation by Thames Valley Police and the Health and Safety Executive into the collapse is still "continuing to look at possible corporate manslaughter, gross negligence manslaughter and health and safety offences." The overarching theme of
5767-413: Was installing improved security fencing at the time. Didcot A opted out of the Large Combustion Plant Directive which meant it was only allowed to run for up to 20,000 hours after 1 January 2008 and had to close by 31 December 2015 at the latest. The decision was made not to install flue gas desulphurisation equipment which would have allowed continued generation. Studies did continue into whether there
5846-494: Was invented in Saudi Arabia in the late 1970s, ending any necessity for flaring. Satellite and nearby infra-red camera observations, however, shows that flaring and venting are still happening in some countries. Natural gas is used to generate electricity and heat for desalination . Similarly, some landfills that also discharge methane gases have been set up to capture the methane and generate electricity. Natural gas
5925-443: Was killed outright and three people were listed as missing presumed dead. Four or five people were injured, three seriously. Additionally, around 50 people were treated for dust inhalation. The rubble from the collapse was 9 metres (30 ft) high and unstable, which along with the instability of the remaining half of the building hampered search efforts. The collapse occurred at around 16:00 GMT , and Thames Valley Police declared
6004-567: Was recovered in the course of recovering petroleum could not be profitably sold, and was simply burned at the oil field in a process known as flaring . Flaring is now illegal in many countries. Additionally, higher demand in the last 20–30 years has made production of gas associated with oil economically viable. As a further option, the gas is now sometimes re- injected into the formation for enhanced oil recovery by pressure maintenance as well as miscible or immiscible flooding. Conservation, re-injection, or flaring of natural gas associated with oil
6083-442: Was retained to provide a strategic emergency backup for the National Grid, providing a fast-responding source of additional electricity in periods of high demand. Didcot OCGT uses four open cycle gas turbines, which are gas-oil fired. Combustion gases from all four units are combined into a single 101m chimney that has a distinctive blue top. Natural gas Natural gas (also called fossil gas, methane gas , or simply gas )
6162-478: Was shut down to allow the fire to burn out without intervention. Several people received minor burns but did not require medical attention. Up to 40,000 homes lost electricity, until power was restored two hours later. Like many power stations built at the time, Didcot was served by a rail loop which is a branch from the Great Western Main Line . This allowed weekly coal and oil trains to service
6241-695: Was the second most polluting in Britain after Drax in North Yorkshire, whilst Friends of the Earth describe it as the ninth worst in the UK. A similar protest occurred early on 26 October 2009, when nine climate change protesters climbed the chimney. Eleven chained themselves to the coal delivery conveyors. The latter group were cut free by police after five hours. The former waited until 28 October before coming down again. All twenty were arrested, and power supplies continued uninterrupted. The power station
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