Conversion of Gas to Liquids (GTL) is slowly expanding as an alternative means to monetize gas resources while producing clean synthetic diesel oil. Syndiesel may have a more prominent role in the marketplace as it may be also produced from coal and biomass through similar processing routes. The paper will review the variety of currently constructed commercial plants, the future projects and the relevance of Syndiesel with regards to new diesel engine technologies.
In the world today, natural gas is one of the most important resources available for energy supply and for the synthesis of a number of chemicals. However, natural gas is seldom found where it is needed and need to be transported from where it is found to where it is needed. Natural gas, due to its nature, is notoriously difficult to transport and several processes have been developed to transform natural to a form that can be transported. These processes include physical transformation processes like pressurising the gas to enable transport through pipelines and refrigeration (LNG 1) that transforms the natural gas into a liquid. However, the gas can also be chemically converted into a form that is fully fungible in today's different value chains. Although there are a number of process options available to do this, the two best known technologies are methanol conversion and the Fischer- Tropsch reaction. The Fischer- Tropsch (FT) reaction produces fuels that are fully compatible with today's transport value chains. The FT process can also produce high value chemicals.
The Fischer-Tropsch (FT) chemical conversion of natural gas involves the following process steps: Gas recovery The natural gas that is recovered from the ground have to be cleaned thoroughly to ensure that no sulphur or other impurities goes into the process. This thorough removal of sulphur from the gas has the added advantage that the fuels from the FT process contain ultra-low «5 ppm) levels of sulphur. In Qatar, the Oryx plant buys its gas, but Sasol also have a business unit that specialises in E&P (Exploration and Production) of natural gas, Sasol Petroleum International, making fully integrated GTL facilities possible. 1 Liquefied Natural Gas
