TIL a lot about natural gas. Gas-fired plants use "dry" natural gas which has had most impurities removed and consists of around 94% methane, with the rest mos

TIL a lot about natural gas. Gas-fired plants use "dry" natural gas which has had most impurities removed and consists of around 94% methane, with the rest mostly ethane, propane, and butane. I was about to say "ah-ha! what about ethane combustion?" but then I looked it up and the combustion reactions with ethane, propane, and butane all produce only water vapor and carbon dioxide. Now, how to dry "wet" natural gas (remove the impurities that don't burn to just H2O + CO2), and how to "sweeten" "sour" natural gas (remove the toxic/lethal sulfur compounds like H2S)? I don't know what all of those reactions look like and what the processes cost in terms of energy and waste byproducts, but those are the kinds of externalities that are sometimes dismissed because they're not as visible (like the wastewater heating for the Diablo nuclear plant).