When the power goes out, will the natural gas lines lose pressure?

So today the survival experts are meeting and they said they will be looking at the threads from the week and answering those questions so I had to make another thread because this one is very important.

So the power goes out. Water pressure will be up for a while then down.

But what happens to the natural gas lines in the city?

Here, any time the power has gone out, there is always natural gas to cook with and heat the house by leaving the burners on.

At what point will the lines lose pressure so that no more gas comes out?

The pressure pumps that pressurize those lines, they have to run off electricity.

Will there be gas explosions still months later if the city has already burned? Will the gas shut itself off automatically?

What is expected to happen if a city catches on fire and the power has been out for a couple days or a couple weeks?

Hard to say, but I think it all depends on use. since the power is out, the pumps won't work anymore. The gas would stay trapped until used or released in most homes. I believe you need a plumbers or gas fitters answer on this.
I think the gas lines have one way valves all the way down the lines. This then would prevent gas from igniting down the line.

reply to post by Rocketman7


Natural gas is piped in from the formation in the ground from which it comes. This formation is always under pressure so it seems to me that the gas would continue until it either ran out or somebody shut it off.

Natural gas is not shipped in gas form as that is too expensive. They compress it into a liquid and ship it that way, but the gas you get into your home typically is piped from the source, and they add a smell to it along the way as a safety measure.

Please see the following diagram:

www.safegasohio.org...

reply to post by Rocketman7


Good question!

From my experience with Hurricanes, we have never lost gas line pressure. Up to 7 days without power, but we had gas the whole time. Makes it nice to be able to get a hot shower if you have a gas hot water heater and a generator!

It seems, if the problem was extremely wide-spread, then losing gas pressure would be a possibility though.

reply to post by Rocketman7

Natural gas was actually set up pretty smart. It uses the natural gas it is piping to power the pumps... So as long as there are no breaks in the pipes you will have gas, even if electricity goes down.

The Nat Gas station close to me has Nat Gas Generators that kick on as soon as the power grid goes down. I hear them running all the time when we lose power in our area.

Originally posted by theclutch
Hard to say, but I think it all depends on use. since the power is out, the pumps won't work anymore. The gas would stay trapped until used or released in most homes. I believe you need a plumbers or gas fitters answer on this.
I think the gas lines have one way valves all the way down the lines. This then would prevent gas from igniting down the line.

edit on 12-1-2012 by theclutch because: spelling

I would think that they must have pumping stations in the city or area and that it isn't pressurized by pumps hundreds of miles away, but I just don't know.

Its always been like the telephones which would work even when the power went out.

I would be interested to find out though since that might help me to decide whether to stay in the city or bug out into the countryside. I am thinking long term as well and if I leave the city and come back. It would be good to know what to expect.

reply to post by Rocketman7


Some gas lines have automatic shutoff valves in case of a major power loss.
Some have backup systems that pump and regulate for a few hours.
I'm not sure if all of them do.

Just look at it like this:
In the event of a national power failure, expect to lose all services within hours.
Water, electric (of course) and gas.

Do not count on any type of pressure to stay in the lines.
Once it is burned or released, it's finished.

Now water will be the last thing to lose.
It stays in towers usually with enough pressure to last a day or more.

But not gas.
Always prepare to be able to work with no conveniences.


Hope that helps.

reply to post by HiHoAZaway


That is because the concept was from the age of people thinking things through, rather than relying on computers to do the thinking for them!

Originally posted by HiHoAZaway
reply to post by Rocketman7

 

Natural gas was actually set up pretty smart. It uses the natural gas it is piping to power the pumps... So as long as there are no breaks in the pipes you will have gas, even if electricity goes down.

The Nat Gas station close to me has Nat Gas Generators that kick on as soon as the power grid goes down. I hear them running all the time when we lose power in our area.

edit on 1/12/2012 by HiHoAZaway because: add

Thats smart today, but less smart when TSHTF since it will just keep exploding then for years to come.
I am assuming humans won't be shutting it all off since they might be zombies.

no, but your pilot light will along with your blower motor

reply to post by Rocketman7

If they are all zombies they won't care anyway.
You must have missed the part where I said "as long as there are no breaks in the pipes"

Originally posted by Flavian
reply to post by HiHoAZaway

 

That is because the concept was from the age of people thinking things through, rather than relying on computers to do the thinking for them!

LoL either that or they just got lucky!
You know the broken clock saying about being right twice a day!

PULL MY FINGER!!

Oh wait, the lights gone out..

*Brappp*

damn it!!!!

reply to post by Rocketman7

Well without power pumping the gas lines of course it will lose pressure, what would keep it pumps going . If there was any sort of indications of a massive power loss I would assume they would shut off the valves at the plants and out stations. Other wise the gasses will stay in the pipes until they have a way of escapes .If poo hits the fan like many on this site seem to think why would one want to try to survive in a city is beyond me however. Well I guess there is cannibalism when food runs out.

Originally posted by freedomSlave
reply to post by Rocketman7

 

Well without power pumping the gas lines of course it will lose pressure, what would keep it pumps going . If there was any sort of indications of a massive power loss I would assume they would shut off the valves at the plants and out stations. Other wise the gasses will stay in the pipes until they have a way of escapes .If poo hits the fan like many on this site seem to think why would one want to try to survive in a city is beyond me however. Well I guess there is cannibalism when food runs out.

Wrong
I work for TransCanada Pipeline for ten year a few year back
All Gas Station use the gas in the line to pump the gas and generate power to run the plant
I know off a few that run like that full time there is no electricity there
So as long there is no line breake you should still get some pressure down the line.

Originally posted by havok
reply to post by Rocketman7

 

Some gas lines have automatic shutoff valves in case of a major power loss.
Some have backup systems that pump and regulate for a few hours.
I'm not sure if all of them do.

Hope that helps.

Yes they do but they will only shutoff if they detect a line breaker to issulate a section
Were i work we had 4 line in paralle so if one or more break the other would continue to work.

Originally posted by Trillium

Originally posted by havok
reply to post by Rocketman7

 

Some gas lines have automatic shutoff valves in case of a major power loss.
Some have backup systems that pump and regulate for a few hours.
I'm not sure if all of them do.

Hope that helps.

Yes they do but they will only shutoff if they detect a line breaker to issulate a section
Were i work we had 4 line in paralle so if one or more break the other would continue to work.

Thanks for the info.

Well I took a look at the map for Vancouver Island, and I found out they just built a liquified natural gas storage facility on the trunk line about 40 miles north of Victoria, the city where I live.

So then if the world turns to human apes or zombies, I will have to go here and turn those large valves by hand and shut off the main trunk line and isolate that tank for future use.

Thats a tough job but someone has to do it.

You can go to the nuke plants and shut down the reactor cores, and make sure the spent fuel pond generators are refueled.

Send someone you don't like, like a brother-in-law or something to the pulp and paper mills to make sure those generators that keep the chlorine tanks cool, don't run out of diesel. Cause if they do, I will not make it to the natural gas storage tank facility. I will die from chlorine gas.

Originally posted by freedomSlave
reply to post by Rocketman7

 

Well without power pumping the gas lines of course it will lose pressure, what would keep it pumps going .

Natural gas powered backup generators.

reply to post by sweetnlow
You are absolutely right!
Pilots may go out and blower motors wont run. Bearing that in mind, your home furnace is running but is not your friend! No blower no heat circulation, overheating and burning down your house! Not a safe source! Now another poster said using your kitchen range burners as an ambient heat source is good, but again safety first. It's open flame, move grease pots and other flammables away from the area. A friend of mine did install gas logs into a wood fireplace, that was smart.

There were mass shortages in New Mexico last winter due to a power failure in Texas. It happened during the coldest weather that we had. Some people went for at least a few days without any gas.

KOB-TV

New Mexico Gas Company is speaking for the first time about why tens of thousands of New Mexicans have no natural gas service. The company blames supply and demand, and a lack of pressure to push the gas through the pipelines. Power blackouts in Texas have cut off power to compressors in West Texas that feed gas into New Mexico. With the low pressure and high demand for natural gas, the gas utility says it's impossible to supply everyone. Up to 32,000 customers across the state are doing without natural gas.