A short interview w/ Prof. David Glasser of the University of the Witwatersrand, from the IV RTK board
A programme at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) funded by the Chinese plans to build a pilot coal-to-liquids (CTL) plant in China that’s more efficient and less costly than current technology. With Prof David Glasser from Wits
LINDSAY WILLIAMS: David, what we’re saying here is that the technology is already in place but what you’ve done is made it more accessible and affordable?
PROF DAVID GLASSER: Yes, at the Wits Centre of Materials and Process Engineering (Comps) we have developed a new way of putting the process together which we believe will be much more efficient, will reduce carbon dioxide pollution, and because it’s a simpler plant it will actually cost less to build - the capital cost will be less.
LINDSAY WILLIAMS: Most people following the press over the last six months have started to get particularly concerned about carbon dioxide emissions and global warming so this is particularly interesting. Going back a step if we can the Fischer-Tropsch technology that’s used to produce synthetic fuel invented by German scientists in the 1920s - is it true to say that on a corporate level Sasol is at the forefront of this technology?
PROF DAVID GLASSER: Absolutely. Sasol have been doing good work for many years on this technology.
LINDSAY WILLIAMS: Are you working closely with them? Are you going to introduce it to them? Where do you stand at Wits?
PROF DAVID GLASSER: We aren’t working with Sasol at all. This is a different venture. We have been working in the whole Fischer-Tropsch area for the last 15 years, and we’ve also been developing fundamental methods for analysing processes - and by applying these new fundamental methods to the processes we are in a better position to be able to look at how to reduce the carbon dioxide emissions of plants. It’s not that we are doing anything different for each piece of equipment, it’s the way we put the equipment together that’s increasing efficiency.
LINDSAY WILLIAMS: Of course the big corporates will be very interested in the findings of your work, and indeed this pilot project - are they knocking on your door?
PROF DAVID GLASSER: No, each of the big companies - the Sasols, the Shells, the ExxonMobils - have developed their own technology, and they are keen to sell and set up their own technology worldwide having spent large sums of money developing it. They’re not keen to look at alternatives where they won’t necessarily be the leader.
LINDSAY WILLIAMS: So the pilot project as we’ve said is going to be set up in a certain province of China at a cost of R75million - when are you going to get conclusive results?
PROF DAVID GLASSER: We’ve already been working on this for about two years - we’ve done an initial feasibility study, and we’ve done a basic design. That’s all been done in South Africa. Now the detailed design has been passed over to a Chinese design company in Shanghai with a projected date of commissioning of the plant towards the end of this year, and hopefully with significant results by the middle of 2008.
LINDSAY WILLIAMS: What does this mean for the world’s energy industry?
PROF DAVID GLASSER: The technology that’s used for Fischer-Tropsch at the moment by all the big companies is essentially work that was done by the Germans and hasn’t changed significantly over the last fifty years. With the new tools we’ve been able to bring to the process we believe that we can produce a process that’s both cheaper and produces less carbon dioxide, and I think from a global warming point of view that’s a big plus. |
