| he development of shale gas plays, which spiked around 2007, has received much attention especially since the severe recession of 2008-2009 due to its potential contribution to the economy. The economic output of shale gas is remarkable because a cheap and abundant supply of natural gas benefits not only direct industries that produce natural gas but also indirect industries that use natural gas to manufacture other products. The induced economic impact is also significant as increased earnings correspond to increased expenditures, stimulating monetary circulation. However, the environmental issues associated with the shale gas development have raised public concern. While it is true that extraction activities have increased the amount of greenhouse gases emitted to the atmosphere and require extensive use and disposal of water, it is nonetheless much cleaner fuel compared to coal and somewhat cleaner than petroleum-derived gasoline. Regulations at the federal and the state levels, in addition to company's proper management practices, enable safe and reliable shale gas development.;A downstream opportunity of shale gas development that aims to meet growing worldwide propylene demand and supply shortage is Gas-to-Propylene (GTP) technology. This process consists of four stages: (1) syngas production, (2) dimethyl ether production, (3) hydrocarbon production from dimethyl ether, and (4) product fractionation. In this work, 100 million standard cubic feet of methane is converted to polymer grade propylene (43.4% yield) and gasoline (3.5% yield). The annual production of propylene is 440 thousand metric tons, and the sales of gasoline by-product add to generate revenues. The preliminary economic analysis for the proposed plant design showed that the total capital investment is... |
