TECHNICAL AND ECONOMICS EFFICIENCY
GTL (Gas To Liquids) is a technology to convert natural gas into petroleum products such as diesel oil and kerosene by chemical reaction.
KNOW MORE ABOUT GTL BACKGROUND & CURRENT DIRECTION +
GTL BACKGROUND & CURRENT TREND / DIRECTION
A- GTL TECHNOLOGY WAS DEVELOPED ON THE BASIS OF FT SYNTHESIS INVENTED IN 1920’S IN GERMANY.
The conversion of natural gas into hydrocarbon liquids has been a technological goal for many years.
In 1923, German scientists Franz Fischer and Hans Tropsch working at the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Institut for Chemistry in Berlin developed the eponymous Fischer-Tropsch process, a process to convert coal or natural gas to hydrocarbon liquids.
Fischer and Tropsch went on to receive the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1930.
Germany used the F-T process to fuel its military during World War II. South Africa installed the first world-scale GTL unit in 1955 during apartheid. Only a few other commercial-scale GTL plants are currently in operation in the world, each started-up in the 1990’s.
B- OBSTACLES TO DEVELOPMENT
Germany used the F-T process to fuel its military during World War II. South Africa installed the first world-scale GTL unit in 1955 during apartheid. Only a few other commercial-scale GTL plants are currently in operation in the world, each started-up in the 1990’s. In fact, most, if not all, GTL plants to date would not have been built if it were not for governmental subsidies or political restrictions or influences.
- Enormous capital cost has always been the primary concern,
- necessitating huge plants to create the economy of scale needed for a venture to be economical.
- Of course, with a required capital investment of hundreds of millions of dollars for such a plant, controlling the technological risk becomes another major obstacle.
However, the costs and economics will likely keep most such GTL projects in the planning stages longer, and few of them will actually be constructed near term.
Refinements to existing Fischer-Tropsch processes are not likely to provide the order of magnitude change in economics needed to overcome the obstacles of inefficiency and high capital cost.
C- RESEARCHES EXCLUSIVELY BASED ON IMPROVING FT PROCESS
FT process has been the Primary focus of gas-to-liquids (GTL) research and development work to date.
In recent years, companies have spent billions of dollars in research and development of gas-to-liquids (GTL) technology, almost all of which is based upon Fischer-Tropsch technology.
D- MEGA-SCALE GTL PLANTS GETTING MUCH ATTENTION AND STUDY
Mega-scale GTL plants have been garnering much attention and study.
Companies are planning to spend billions of dollars in the next few years to construct mega scale GTL plants at the world’s largest gas fields in Qatar. Several other projects have also been announced by various partnerships in locals such as Nigeria, Malaysia, and the Middle East.
However, the costs and economics will likely keep most such GTL projects in the planning stages longer, and few of them will actually be constructed near term.
E- GAS-TO-LIQUIDS PLANTS: NO LONGER EXCLUSIVE TO LARGER PLAYERS
On a smaller scale, a number of companies are mobilizing to utilize the FT process to take advantage of more site-specific opportunities. Their goal is to create small-scale and modular GTL systems both on- and offshore to take advantage of a wide range of gas resources that are by themselves too small for larger multibillion GTL plants.
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DRIVERS FOR GTL
GTL process offers many benefits and there are many incentives to continue to pursue an economical GTL process.
Currently, gas pipelines and cryogenic tankers (LNG) are the two major means of gas transportation. Both require colossal investment and are very complex in construction, operation and maintenance.
GTL addresses gas transportation issues by converting gas into (easely) transportable synthetic oil / liquids to end markets.
Therefore offering an opportunity to add value to Stranded gas / Remote gas fields and and providing oil producers a way / solution of turning associated gas problem / issues into a revenue stream.
GTL provides oil producers a way / solution of turning associated gas problem / issues into a revenue stream, and governments a way to monetize their countries’ resources that may have been considered worthless or even wasted (flared).
+ Eco Friendly
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I- Rising energy prices, the need for a new source of fuel to replace depleting oil reserves and the abundance of gas
> The need for a new source of fuel to replace depleting oil reserves, while natural gas supplies are projected to last into the 22nd- Century.
> Rising energy prices and the difference between the oil and natural gas price.
Gas is clearly a lot more abundant than oil and we keep discovering more of it / large natural gas reserves. Not to mention the shale gas (which is dramatically changing the market). In macro terms that means that prices are set to be depressed, in turn creating more of an incentive for GTL. That’s also an opportunity for gas producers to make more money out of their resource.
The price differential between gas and oil products is a main driver and creates more of an incentive for GTL. That’s also an opportunity for gas producers to make more money out of their resource.
II- Stranded gas / Remote gas fields: GTL offers an opportunity to add value to those resources
Very substantial part of natural gas resources is located far away from where the gas is ultimately consumed. And over 75% of the world’s known gas reserves are not currently accessible by pipeline. The majority of those reserves exist in remote locations where gas pipelines cannot be economically justified.
In many cases decisions about exploiting a specific gas field are driven by the cost and complexity of transportation of the gas.
GTL may become the element enabling exploitation of assets that are not economically attractive otherwise – in locations where gas pipelines cannot be economically justified- , and substantially improve economics of many others.
III- Associated gas that is currently being flared
> Approximately 15.5 trillion cubic feet of stranded natural gas is flared, vented, or reinjected each year.
> Associated gas is a real problem for oil producers, plus governmental restrictions on flaring and emissions are increasing. In some cases, production of oil from certain fields may stop or at least decrease due to lack of options for handling the associated gas.
> Governments may desire to monetize their countries’ resources that may have been considered worthless or even wasted (flared).
GTL provides oil producers a way / solution of turning associated gas problem / issues into a revenue stream, and governments a way to monetize their countries’ resources that may have been considered worthless or even wasted (flared).
IV- Environmental concerns: GTL are efficient and very eco friendly green products
> Environmental concerns are gaining support. Laws for cleaner fuels are being enacted and enforced.
GTL products are more environmentally friendly and efficient than conventional oil refinery products. Since natural gas itself contains low sulfur contents, fuel oil produced by GTL technology has minimal sulfur contents.
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OUR TECHNOLOGY / GTL TECHNOLOGY WE BRING / PROVIDE
We bring a unique technology developed by Japanese engineers
- A radically new GTL technology. Not another F-T refinement
- A technology that achieves better investment returns than the mega-plants at a fraction of their capacity and capital requirements
- A technology that fits a wide range (thousands) of stranded and associated gas fields around the world that are by themselves too small for larger multibillion GTL plants
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> A radically new GTL technology developed by Japanese engineers. Not another F-T refinement.
The new AD-GTL process, overcomes the obstacles of FT inefficiency and high capital cost requirement.
The key to the AD-GTL process is the innovative step that eliminates the syngas production process and minimization of equipment volumes. The catalyst used in the liquid-phase is the cornerstone of the technology.
> Achieves better investment returns than the mega-plants at a fraction of their capacity and capital requirements
AD-GTL process is profitable at much smaller scale than any potentially competitive processes.
Rather than another version or refinement of the F-T process as other companies have produced, AD-GTL presents a unique new technology that combines well established, industrial practices with novel inventions to create a GTL process that is quite profitable, even at production scales below which F-T processes are not.
Refinements to existing Fischer-Tropsch processes are not likely to provide the order of magnitude change in economics needed to overcome the obstacles of inefficiency and high capital cost.
> Fits a wide range (thousands) of stranded and associated gas fields around the world
AD enables to create (implement/build) small-scale and modular GTL systems both on- and offshore to take advantage of a wide range of stranded and associated gas fields around the world that are by themselves too small for larger multibillion GTL plants.
It has been estimated that less than 10% of the world’s gas fields are large enough to sustain a 10,000 barrels per day (bpd) GTL facility. But scaling production down to the 2,000 bpd range is estimated to open up 40% of the world’s gas fields to economic viability.
Smaller fields need smaller plants that require much less capital.
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