Transportation Means of Natural Gas and Their Characteristics

Natural gas has been used widely in most developed countries as a clean and efficient energy sources.For the decades in the early 21st century,with West-to-East Gas Pipeline and other gas supply projects being put into operation, natural gas will play an increasingly important role in the energy system and the national economy of China. As a key link in the natural gas supply chain,transportation has critical influence on the economy of the supply and consumption of natural gas. On the basis of the properties of natural gas, this paper describes the technical and economic characteristics of its transportation means, and concludes that pipelines will be the most popular means for the transportation of natural gas,and other transportation means,including CNG and LNG transportation, will be supplemental to the gas pipeline systems. The information in this paper is helpful for selecting the transportation means of natural gas and for planning gas supply systems.