Natural gas continues to be the fuel of choice for power generation and feedstock for a range of petrochemical industries. This trend is driven by environmental, economic and supply considerations with a balance clearly tilting in favor of natural gas as both fuel and feedstock. Despite the recent global economic uncertainty, the oil and gas industry is expected to continue its growth globally, especially in emerging economies. The expansion in LNG capacity coupled with recently launched and on-stream GTL plants poses real technological and environmental challenges. These important developments coupled with a global concern on green house gas emissions provide a fresh impetus to engage in new and more focused research activities aimed at mitigating or resolving the challenges facing the industry. Academic researchers and plant engineers in the gas processing industry will benefit from the state of the art papers published in this collection that cover natural gas utilization, sustainability and excellence in gas processing.

Advances in Gas Processing: Proceedings of the 2nd Annual Gas Processing Symposium 11-1 4 January, 2010, Doha, Qatar, reviews the state of knowledge in gas processing. The contributions are organized around five main themes: (i) environmental sustainability; (ii) natural gas processing technologies; (iii) energy efficiency in operations; (iv) design and safety; and (v) operational excellence. The papers on environmental sustainability cover topics such as the biogasification of waste monoethanolamine; the role of LNG in a carbon constrained world; and sustainable water management. The papers on natural gas processing technologies include the removal of acid gases from natural gas streams via membrane technology and selective control of Fischer-Tropsch synthesis hydrocarbons product distribution. The papers on energy efficiency in operations cover lifted turbulent jet flame in a cross-flow; novel hybrid biomass and coal processes; and the adoption of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs). The papers on design and safety include studies on the optimal design and operation of a GTL process and efficient design, operating, and control strategies for LNG plants. The papers on operational excellence deal with topics such as chemicals in gas processing; the monitoring and optimization of hydrocarbon separation equipment; and the inhibition of gas hydrate formation.