Petroleum products Physical Properties

Heating Value of Natural Gas

Heating value of a natural gas is an important indicator of its overall value as a fuel. So let's look at what exactly we mean by the heating value of a natural gas and what are the typical heating values for different hydrocarbon gases.

What is heating value of a gas?

The heating value of a substance is the energy released upon combustion of a substance at standard conditions. The heating value can be measured as energy released per unit mass, unit volume or unit mole of a substance. For mixtures, the heating value can be estimated as a weighted sum.

It is also known as the heat of combustion.

How to measure heating value?

Heating value is a quantitative measure of heat content of a natural gas. It is experimentally measured using an apparatus called a bomb calorimeter. In such an experiment, a stoichiometric mixture of the gas and oxygen is filled in the bomb calorimeter and then allowed to go through complete combustion. The container is then cooled down to initial starting temperature.

All of the heat released by the gases during the combustion and cool down processes, corresponds to the heating value of that gas.

Heating values for natural gas hydrocarbons

The following table gives heating values of various hydrocarbons and some other gases in Btu/Scf (energy released per unit volume).
BTU : British Thermal Unit for energy
SCF : Standard Cubic Feet of gas
(Standard conditions correspond to 1.013 bara and 200C

Gas Gross Heating Value (Btu/Scf) Net Heating Value (Btu/Scf)
Methane 1012 911
Ethane 1783 1631
Propane 2557 2353
isobutane 3354 3094
n-butane 3369 3101
isopentane 4001 3698
n-pentane 4009 3709
Neopentane 3987 3685
n-hexane 4755.9 4403.8
2-Methylpentane 4747.3 4395.2
3-Methylpentane 4750.3 4398.2
Neohexane 4736.2 4384
2,3-Dimethylbutane 4745 4392.9
n-heptane 5502.5 5100
2-Methylhexane 5494.6 5092.2
3-Methylhexane 5498.6 5096
3-Ethylpentane 5500.7 5098.3
2,2-Dimethylpentane 5481.9 5079.6
2,4-Dimethylpentane 5486.7 5084.2
3,3-Dimethylpentane 5488.8 5086.4
Triptane 5483.5 5081.2
n-octane 6248.9 5796.1
Dilsobutyl 6233.5 5780.5
Isooctane 6231.7 5778.8
n-Nonane 6996.5 6493.2
n-Decane 7742.9 7189.6
Cyclopentane 3763.7 3512.1
Methylcyclopentane 4501.2 4199.4
Cyclohexane 4481.7 4179.7
Methylcyclohexane 5215.9 4863.6
Ethene (Ethylene) 1599.8 1499.1
Propene (Propylene) 2332.7 2181.8
1-Butene (Butylene) 3079.9 2878.7
cio-2-Butene 3072.2 2871
trans-2-butene 3068 2866.8
isobutene 3061.1 2859.9
1-pentene 3826.5 3575
1,2-Butadiene 2939.9 2789
1,3-Butadiene 2879.9 2729
Isoprene 3612.1 3410.8
Acetylene 1475.5 1423.2
Benzene 3741.8 3590.9
Toluene 4475 4273.6
Ethylbenzene 5222.2 4970.5
o-Xylene 5209.9 4958.2
m-Xylene 5207.9 4956.3
p-xylene 5208.8 4957.1
Styrene 5031.1 4829.8
Isopropylbenzene 5962.8 5660.9
Methyl alcohol 866.7 766.1
Ethyl alcohol 1599.1 1448.1
Carbon monoxide 320.5 320.5
Hydrogen sulfide 637.1 586.8
Ammonia 434.4 359
Hydrogen 324.2 273.8

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