Low Temperature Fischer Tropsch GTL Technology successfully demonstrated in South Africa
PetroSA
Posted: Wed, 11 Oct 2006 11:47 | © Moneyweb Holdings Limited, 1997-2006
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The Petroleum Oil and Gas Corporation of South Africa, Petro SA, and its joint venture partners in its Low Temperature Fischer Tropsch (LTFT) Technology initiative, have successfully completed Demonstration Phase 1 of its semi-commercial LTFT plant at the Mossel Bay refinery.
The joint venture company, known as GTL.F1, is a consortium between PetroSA, Statoil and Lurgi. The three parties joined forces to demonstrate LTFT technology based on cobalt catalyst and a three-phase slurry bubble column reactor utilising Statoil’s proprietary technology, as verified at pilot plant scale, can be commercially viable.
The achievement demonstrates that gas to liquids (GTL) is a technically viable alternative route to producing hydrocarbon fuels that have the potential to reduce the world’s dependability on crude oil.
GTL.F1 set itself the objective of meeting critical performance criteria (conversion, selectivity, production rate, etc) in order to verify the catalyst and reactor performance. The semi commercial unit successfully met its targets for the first phase of the demonstration program in July 2006.
In May 2004, a large Fischer Tropsch Semi Commercial Unit (FTSCU) was ready for start-up in Mossel Bay, with the capacity to produce up to 1000 bbl/d of hydrocarbon products. The FTSCU is fully integrated into the existing PetroSA GTL Refinery Plant. The catalysts for the FTSCU were provided by Johnson Matthey and Technip Italy constructed the unit. The substantial size of this near-commercial scale plant will ensure that further scale-up risks are minimized.
In the slurry bubble column reactor, synthesis gas is introduced into the reactor and bubbles up through the slurry, which consists of a highly active proprietary cobalt catalyst and molten wax. Light hydrocarbons and unconverted synthesis gas and reaction water vapour leave the reactor via an overhead stream. From the overhead stream the light oil product is recovered. The recovery unit splits this stream into oil, an aqueous phase and tail gas. Wax produced in the reactor is separated from the catalyst containing slurry using a proprietary developed continuous separation system.
Matthias Wagner, Managing Director of GTL.F1, says:
“Reactor performance and catalyst selectivity exceeded our own targets while the composition of light, heavy oil and wax products met the high targets. The reactor heat transfer confirms pilot plant runs and simulation models. Reaching this milestone confirms and supports the design and engineering of other commercial scale plants currently being studied. Operating procedures are well established and GTL.F1 is continuously improving elements of the technology.”
Gas-to-liquids (GTL) is a process used to monetise large natural gas reserves. The process entails converting the natural gas at high temperature and pressure with steam and oxygen to yield a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide. This mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen is called synthesis gas (syngas). The syngas is then catalytically transformed in the Fischer Tropsch reactor to a variety of hydrocarbons, which in turn can be cracked or hydro-isomerised to diesel and other lighter hydrocarbons.
Of great environmental significance is the fact that the products of the Fischer Tropsch process do not contain aromatic compounds and sulphur. The diesel boasts of a higher cetane number and the absence of sulphur, unburned hydrocarbons and particulate (soot) and nitrogen (NOx) emissions than its conventional counterpart. The significance of a higher cetane number is that the GTL derived diesel burns cooler and the absence of sulphur and aromatics make a cleaner burning fuel with reduced environmental pollutants. GTL fuels, neat or blended with crude oil derived fuels, meet the current worldwide challenge to produce environmentally friendly transportation fuels while also enabling the use of advanced engine technologies.
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Statoil's GTL technology passes PetroSA plant test
October 12, 2006
busrep.co.za
By Bunny Nooryani
Oslo - Statoil had developed on-site technology to convert natural gas into diesel and naphtha that was now ready for commercial use, following successful tests with South African state-owned oil company PetroSA, Norway's largest oil and gas producer said yesterday.
Statoil said the gas-to-liquid (GTL) technology, which would enable more fuel to be recovered from remote gas fields, had been in countinuous use at PetroSA's production plant in Mossel Bay in 2006, and had produced as planned.
Rannveig Stangeland, a spokesperson for Statoil, said the company, in which the Norwegian state owns 70 percent, and PetroSA had partnered with German engineering and chemical company Lurgi to conduct the tests.
The technology can be used at remote fields where gas can not be piped to existing infrastructure or in gas-rich regions where people want more liquid hydrocarbons such as diesel or naphtha.
"We've worked on this for 20 years. Our technology is now cost-efficient and ready for commercial use," said Stangeland.
Based on the Fisher-Tropsch process, the technology converts natural gas at a high temperature and pressure with steam and oxygen to yield a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide. The mixture is catalytically transformed in a reactor into hydrocarbons, which can be cracked, or hydro-isomerised, to diesel and lighter hydrocarbons, according to Statoil and its partners.
"The technology can be used at fields that are located far from infrastructure, so that gas can be converted into diesel or naphtha and then transported," Stangeland said.
"It can also be used at production sites where gas is flared or in areas where holders want to diversify their gas into liquid hydrocarbons."
Companies such as Shell and Sasol are planning GTL projects in a number of countries, including Qatar, which has the world's largest gas fields. High oil prices and environmental concern have increased the incentive for producers to convert natural gas into liquid fuels with lower sulphur content.
A typical GTL project could produce the equivalent of 40 000 to 80 000 barrels of oil a day, Stangeland said. The Tinrhert field in Algeria, where Statoil has operations, could be developed by converting gas to diesel or naphtha, she said. |
