Companies to commercialise gas to liquids production system

 

Two companies have invested $100m (€91m) in R&D and combined technologies to convert natural and renewable gas sources into methanol, ultra-low sulphur diesel, naphtha and low carbon renewable fuels.

Gas Technologies LLC and INFRA Synthetic Fuels will market and commercialise their new integrated gas to liquid (GTL) plants capable of producing  the ‘green’ fuels.

The global oversupply of natural gas including rapidly growing volumes of associated gas flared at the wellhead have created a burgeoning demand for low cost, small-scale gas-to-liquids (“GTL”) conversion technologies.

With the fossil fuel industry facing growing resistance to crude oil refining and crude oil-based petrochemicals, interest in natural gas, biogas, biomethane, landfill gas and coal mine methane as fuel and chemical sources continues to grow worldwide.

To commercialise this technology, the companies are focusing marketing efforts on mid-stream natural gas processors, pipeline companies and compressor stations.

These companies have access to low cost natural gas and associated gas gathering systems with available land to host the equipment.

Walter Breidenstein, CEO of GasTechnologies, said: “The demand for clean fuels and chemicals is growing rapidly.

“Given the recent price correction of crude oil, we have re-focused our marketing efforts on the natural gas sector. Our integrated low cost of clean fuel and chemical production at a scale as small as 1,000 barrels per day cannot be matched. The market has changed in our favor and we are poised to create tremendous value for our customers.”

Dmitry Popov, Director of INFRA Synthetic Fuels added: “Our 4th generation GTL systems coupled with our simple plant design using 95% off-the-shelf components is the lowest cost methane conversion to fuels technology available.

“As our catalyst produces a 100% stable liquid stream of synthetic crude that can be sold at site without further upgrading or costs. This technology is economically disruptive to anyone with a methane supply (natural, bio or renewable) that needs conversion to clean burning fuel products including diesel, naphtha and jet fuels.”

Both companies are working with insurance and EPC companies to offer separate and joint licensing packages with technology insurance guarantees of performance, turn-key complete systems, with or without financing, and attractive tolling models to eliminate balance sheet debt risk for midstream operators.