Sasol opens catalyst facility in South Africa

South African company Sasol Synfuels has opened its first cobalt catalyst manufacturing facility in Sasolburg which will convert gas to liquids (GTL).

The company will supply the catalyst production to Qatar, Nigeria and Uzbekistan; creating 50 permanent jobs in the local South African community in the process.

Lean Strauss, Sasol senior group executive, says: ‘Our total capital spend in South Africa over the past years has been R42 billion (€3.9 billion) and with the pipeline of projects in the region, we are looking at spending an additional R40 billion, over the next three to four years. Given that South Africa was the country in which Sasol’s proprietary Slurry Phase Distillate process was developed, it is a significant milestone to have the “heart beat” of the GTL and catalyst process on South African soil for the first time.’

The company is already producing cobalt catalysts in Meern in the Netherlands as part of a joint venture with BASF.

The catalysts work during the hydrocarbon synthesis, when molecules of carbon monoxide and hydrogen are processed with the catalysts, forming water and long chain hydrocarbons such as wax, which are then converted to diesel.

The catalysts help to speed up the process.