Synthetic Natural Gas (SNG) is a blend of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) and Air that provides a direct replacement for Natural Gas. SNG provides an ideal energy solution to industries and residential townships that face the following situations:

• Inadequate Natural Gas supply available to meet energy hungry industry
• Production needs to start up but Natural Gas supply is delayed
• Natural Gas is not available in the region currently but system needs to be designed for Natural Gas to derive 
  future benefits
• Natural gas pricing opportunities
• Peak shaving allows enhanced production

Mixing LPG with air in an appropriate ratio creates Synthetic Natural Gas or so-called SNG. SNG provides nearly identical combustion characteristics to natural gas. Therefore, SNG and NG can be used interchangeably and burner, regulator and orifice adjustments are not necessary. Questions often arise regarding the air quality associated with SNG. The air quality required is as follows:

• Suppressed compressed air dew point 15 – 20°F (8.3 – 11.2°C) below inlet dew point
• Remove contaminants 10 microns or larger
• Allow minimal trace of lubricants and aerosols
• Provide air inlet pressure at minimum >35 PSIG (2.4 bar g) above the SNG Discharge Pressure

SNG is desirable when there is an absence or a shortage of natural gas in a region. SNG can be used, for example, to precede the availability natural gas or to augment the gas supply where natural gas is already available. It's also more convenient than traditional LPG cylinder gas.

SNG systems provide a convenient, consistent, high quality fuel with combustion characteristics similar to natural gas. In emerging economies where natural gas is in its infancy, SNG plants allow local gas utility firms to “build up” a customer base during planning and construction of a natural gas transmission line. The availability of SNG also entices commercial and industrial growth since such customers can install natural gas equipment before the arrival of the natural gas.

SNG systems also allow significant opportunities for managing peak load gas demand situations. For example, daily or hourly demand for natural gas can vary between ten percent (10%) to three hundred and fifty percent (350%) of the yearly average. Consequently, even though natural gas processing plants and transmission lines are sized for a very large capacity, only a small percentage of that capacity is typically used. An SNG system can provide for peak loads, rather than require installation of an additional expensive natural gas storage facility.

The advantages of SNG under specific situations are obvious. One side benefit is that SNG eliminates recondensation problems commonly associated with undiluted LPG vapor, as the “tempering” of the LPG with air suppressed the dew point. Below we examine the similarity of SNG burning characteristics to those of natural gas, and the hydrocarbon dew point consequences of SNG mixtures.