“Gas Density & Specific Gravity”

A report submitted by the students :

sajjad kareem & karar shaker youssef

Supervising Doctor : Tahseen Al-Taie

Reservoir Laboratory

lecturer's name : Hawraa adil

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 Objective
Determine the Gas Density & Specific Gravity

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Introduction
1) Gas Density
Gas density is defined as the mass of the gas occupying a certain
volume at specified pressure and temperature. The density is
usually represented in units of lbm/ft3. Another common density
representation is the “gas gradient” that is expressed in units of
psi/ft. Gas density is a function of the pressure and temperature
conditions for the gas. Due to its high compressibility, gas can
change its volume significantly with change in pressure.
Therefore, density changes (at low pressure) can be significant.
At high pressures, the gas molecules are packed together and
may approach the behavior of liquid (small variation of density
with pressure). The following two equations are used to
calculate gas density in the two commonly used units.
𝜌𝑔 =
Where 𝜌𝑔 is Gas Density Ibm/ft3
Gas density is not calculated from correlations. However,
correlations can be used to calculate the z-factor, which is used
in the above equations to calculate the density of the gas at a
specified pressure and temperature. Fig. shows a typical density
plot for a dry gas

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2) Specific Gravity
Relative density, or specific gravity, is the ratio of the density
(mass of a unit volume) of a substance to the density of a given
reference material. Specific gravity for liquids isnearly always
measured with respect to water at its densest (at 4 °C or 39.2 °F);
for gases, the reference is air at room temperature (20 °C or 68
°F). The term "relative density" is often preferred in scientific
usage. If a substance's relative density is less than 1 then it is less
dense than the reference; if greater than 1 then it is denser than
the reference. If the relative density is exactly 1 then the densities
are equal; that is, equal volumes of the two substances have the
same mass. If the reference material is water, then a substance
with a relative density (or specific gravity) less than 1 will float in
water. For example, an ice cube, with a relative density of about
0.91, will float. A substance with a relative density greater than 1
will sink.

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Theory
One of the main gas properties that are frequently of interest to
engineers is the apparent molecular weight. If yi represents the
mole fraction of the component in a gas mixture, the apparent
molecular weight is defined mathematically by the following
equation
𝑴𝒂 = ∑ 𝒚𝒊 𝑴𝒊
Where
Ma = apparent molecular weight of a gas mixture
Mi = molecular weight of the component in the mixture
yi = mole fraction of component i in the mixture
The density of an ideal gas mixture is calculated by simply replacing
the molecular weight of the pure component with the apparent
molecular weight of the gas mixture to give
𝜌𝑔 = =𝑚𝑣
Where 𝜌𝑔 = density of the gas mixture, lbm/ft3
P = psia T = R
The specific gravity is defined as the ratio of the gas density to
that of the air. Both densities are measured or expressed at the
same pressure and temperature. Commonly,

the standard pressure psc and standard temperature Tsc are used in
defining the gas specific gravity:
𝛾= =

Where
𝜌𝑔 = gas specific gravity
𝜌𝑎𝑖𝑟 = density of the air
Mair = apparent molecular weight of the air = 28.96
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Procedure
1. Starting by Gas sample at 60 F & 14.7 psia.
2. Use the oven to heat the sample until reach certain
temperature.
3. Use Jog mode then increase the volume of the Gas sample.
4. Record the new Temperature, Pressure, and Volume.
5. Calculate Z factor.
𝒁=

6. Use GC to obtain mole friction.

7. Calculate Gas gravity & density use the above formulas.
= =

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 ‫مناقشة الطالب سجاد كريم هاشم‬
Q1) Why is molecular weight important to a petroleum engineer?
Ans.:
Molecular weight chemical compound is defined as the
total weight of constituent atoms estimated in units of
weights atomic, depending the molecular weight of the oil
and Ktefath, the molecular weight of the vehicles involved
in it and the ratio between them, and because crude oil is
made up of a large number of vehicles, some complicated
installation, so do not The gram molecular weight can be
determined precisely, but what is known as the gram
molecular weight is calculated.Average, the increased
molecular weight of oil cuttings at their higher boiling
point.
Q2)What is specific gravity measured in?
Ans.:
specific gravity is a dimensionless quantity; that is, it is not
expressed in units. To find the sp. gr of a solid or liquid,
you must know its density in kilograms per meter cubed
(kg/m3) or in grams per centimeter cubed (g/cm3).
Q3) Is the density of gas high or low?
Ans.;
Gases typically have exceptionally low densities.
Q4)What affects the density of a gas?
Ans.:
The density of gases depends upon the temperature. The
higher the temperature, the more the molecules are spread
out and the lower the density.The result is that warm gases
rise and cool gases sink. The same concept helps to
explain the weather resulting in high and low pressures.
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 Q5) what is density of natural gas?
Ans.:
0.68 kg/Sm3
,Natural gas is lighter than air (density of air is 1.293 kg/Sm3
density of natural gas is 0.68 kg/Sm3); consequently it rises quickly in
air. It ignites at a temperature between 595°C and 630°C.

‫مناقشة الطالب كرار شاكر يوسف‬

Q1) What is the difference between density and specific gravity?
Ans.:
Density is defined as mass per unit volume. It has the SI unit kg m-3
or kg/m3 and is an absolute quantity. Specific gravity is the ratio of
a material's density with that of water at 4 °C (where it is most dense
and is taken to have the value 999.974 kg m-3). It is therefore a
relative quantity with no units.
Q2)When is gas ideal?
Ans.:
When the pressure value is too small.
Q3) calculate the density of the gas.
Ans.:
To find a given gas density, divide the molar mass of the gas by the
molar volume (22.4 L / mol in this case). For example, if you were
looking for the density of water vapor, you would divide 18 g/mol
by 22.4 L/mol to yield 0.804 g/L. That is:

= 0.804 g/L.

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Q4) Why is specific gravity important?
Ans.:
Specific gravity is an important property of fluids being
related to density and viscosity. Knowing the specific
gravity will allow determination of a fluid's characteristics
compared to a standard, usually water, at a specified
temperature

Q5)How can you describe the relation between density and

temperature ?explain?
Ans.:
the relation between the density of a liquid and its
temperature is inverse
because at heating the volume of the liquid will be
increase leading to density
decreasing according to the following relation :
ρ=mass/volume

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 reference
1) https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/earth-and-
planetarysciences/gas-density
2)https://chem.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Introductory_Ch
emistry/Book%3A_Introductory_Chemistry_(CK12)/10%3A_
The_Mole/10.07%3A_Gas_Density
3. Gathogo, P.N., Diagenetic Transformations of Tight Shales. 2011.
Monograph of the First Shale Science Conference “Evolution of the
Mental Picture of Tight Shales, 28-29 March, Warsaw, Poland.

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