African Entrepreneurship Records

Chapter 893 The Start of the Natural Gas Industry

  September 1894.

 Western Great Lakes Province, East Africa.

“What is such a long steel pipe used for? It looks as thick as an arm, right?” This is a question asked by many people.

“I heard it’s a natural gas pipeline, and the gas transported in it is the same kind of gas used in gas lamps.”

What everyone is talking about is East Africa's first industrial-scale long-distance natural gas pipeline, which is the current focus of the East African government or Ernst.

East Africa has no shortage of the three giants of conventional energy and mineral resources, namely coal, oil and natural gas. However, oil is a resource with relatively small reserves in East Africa, so Ernst naturally focused on natural gas.

On the one hand, East Africa is very rich in natural gas resources. In the past, Tanzania, Mozambique and other countries in East Africa now have large amounts of natural gas resources.

On the other hand, the application technology of natural gas has matured, so East Africa urgently needs to popularize the use of natural gas so that it can replace some industrial and domestic fuel applications.

Human beings have used natural gas for a long time, but the modern large-scale application of natural gas began in the United Kingdom.

 The constraint on the construction of natural gas pipelines in East Africa is not inadequate technology, which had matured a few years ago, but East Africa's experimentation with natural gas power generation technology.

However, except for the lack of knowledge on use, other aspects are complete. Residents' use of natural gas is nothing more than using gas tanks and special stoves. This is not an insurmountable problem for East African researchers.

In fact, as early as 1760, the British invented the gas tank, which was later used to power gas lamps. Therefore, the gas tank has been developed for more than a hundred years, and its safety performance has been very reliable. Therefore, various types of gas tanks that use natural gas as residential fuel have The hardware conditions are mature.

Therefore, the development and utilization of natural gas in East Africa was relatively late. Even with heavy investment, it still took some time to catch up technologically, but the effect was significant. For example, the natural gas pipeline in East Africa was only nine years behind the United States.

In 1732, Englishman Calisher Spalding proposed using methane discharged from coal mines to illuminate the streets of Whitehaven.

As for promoting the use of natural gas to the public, it is necessary to popularize safety knowledge first. Natural gas is flammable and explosive, and natural gas leakage itself can easily lead to death from suffocation. Therefore, considering the safety of the people, only a small amount of experimental promotion can be done first. This is similar to East Africa. It is a truth that when electricity is popularized, it will be accompanied by a lot of safety science popularization.

Next is the United States. The natural gas lighting industry in the United States began in 1816. Baltimore, Maryland, began to use natural gas for street lighting. In 1886, the United States had built the world's first industrial-scale long-distance gas pipeline. .

  The primary purpose of building this gas pipeline is to supply energy to East Africa’s first natural gas power plant, and then transmit it to Bujumbura, Mbeya and other cities through high-voltage power grids.

By 1813, the London and Westminster Gas Lighting and Coke Company had secured the first ever municipal gas lighting contract.

 At present, the main fuels for East African residents are firewood and coal. In rural areas, firewood is the main source. There are also special fuels made by drying dung and coal like in northern pastures. In cities, coal is mainly supplied.

The promotion of natural gas will also greatly change the lifestyle of East African residents. After all, in the 21st century, natural gas is also the most energy-saving, environmentally friendly, and affordable living fuel.

"Everyone, please don't watch nearby. This is a natural gas pipeline. Natural gas is flammable, explosive, and toxic. Our project is about to start testing, so it's best not to get too close." Patrol officers dispersed Residents watching the installation of natural gas pipelines. Everyone naturally believes what government officials say. After all, this era is developing too fast, and new things are always emerging. Especially in East Africa, earth-shaking changes have occurred in the past thirty years, so everyone's ability to accept it is also Much stronger.

“Isn’t natural gas just the gas used in gas lamps? That thing is indeed dangerous, but ordinary people can’t access it. Originally, according to the development of electricity, I thought gas would be eliminated!” Someone murmured.

 The early use of gas was as fuel for lighting fixtures. The emergence of electric lights has greatly reduced the use of gas in this field.

Of course, the United States has begun to promote the use of natural gas as residential fuel, and East Africa is doing so at almost the same time as the United States.

The promotion of natural gas in the United States is dominated by private companies, while East Africa is best at using administrative power. However, in this way, as long as production capacity is guaranteed, East Africa can quickly promote large-scale promotion across the country, rather than private companies like the United States. Companies, each working on their own.

So although East Africa started late in this regard, it will be easy to surpass other countries in the future. After all, no government in the world attaches so much importance to natural gas energy as East Africa does.

"Rohr, why should natural gas pipelines be built directly on the ground instead of buried underground, like sewers? Isn't it too dangerous?" the patrolman asked the technician who was directing the welding of the pipeline.

Rohr explained: "Many people in East Africa have never seen natural gas, so they don't know much about its properties. The reason why natural gas pipelines are exposed is because natural gas is lighter than air, and only when the concentration is between 5% and 15%. It will be ignited. The advantage of the open line is that once the pipeline leaks, it will float to high places and diffuse, and no flammable mixture will be formed. If the hidden line is used, it will accumulate in the pipeline ditch when it leaks, and it will explode if there is a spark. Build this pipeline above ground.”

“Of course, this will also facilitate future maintenance and inspection. This pipeline will eventually lead to the power plant. After the connection is completed, we can inspect along the pipeline to prevent leaks.”

As people who have received compulsory education, the patrol officers probably know a lot about it. After all, the quality of gases is different. This should be understood as long as you take it seriously when you go to school.

It’s just that there is no specific description of natural gas in East African textbooks. After all, the large-scale utilization of natural gas only has a history of more than a hundred years, and it was even blank in East Africa before.

However, concerns about the safety of pipelines are actually unfounded. Although the world's first gas pipeline was constructed relatively late, the world's first oil pipeline was constructed relatively early.

 So of course the technologies are relatively mature. As long as the production factories no longer cut corners on materials, there will be no big problems.

“Mr. Rolle, do you know how this gas generates electricity?”

Rohr replied: "In fact, it is the same as using coal to generate electricity. It boils water and then drives it with steam."

In 1940, the world's first natural gas-powered power turbine appeared in a power station in Switzerland, marking the birth of natural gas power generation technology.

East Africa pushed the time forward more than forty years. In the previous life, around the 1920s, natural gas chemical research work began to take off in the United States and Germany, and people began to use natural gas separation to produce chemical products such as formaldehyde, acetic acid, and synthetic rubber.

East Africa's early deployment in the field of natural gas has only advantages and no disadvantages for the development of East African countries. In its previous life, the United States developed long-term technological advantages in this field because it developed early in this field, thus controlling the international natural gas market. You must know that natural gas is not as distributed as oil. It is extremely uneven, but the United States can monopolize the market, which shows that the accumulation of technology is very important.

 Hence, research in the field of natural gas is bound to become one of the priorities in the energy field in East Africa, at the same level as coal and oil.

 (End of this chapter)