Gas2 secures £5.5M in funding to further catalytic ceramic membrane gas-to-liquids technology

13 February 2012

Scottish gas reforming company Gas2 has secured £5.5 million (US$8.7 million) of funding to further the development of the next generation of gas-to-liquids (GTL) technology including the construction of a pilot reactor plant.

The company has developed a catalytic ceramic based porous membrane (pMRTM) that is used in its gas reforming (syngas) reactors and fluid forming (Fischer-Tropsch) reactors to create liquid hydrocarbons. This is an alternative technical solution to other developers of small to medium GTL who are using micro-channel technology.

Conventional GTL processes typically involve a 2-step process split into 4 stages. Step 1 produces syngas (hydrogen and carbon monoxide) in 2 stages from a combination of natural gas and oxygen. Step 2 uses two Fischer-Tropsch units arranged in series, to convert the syngas to liquid fuel products. By contrast, Gas2’s GTL process involves a single step during the syngas generation and is aiming to have one single step for conversion into liquid hydrocarbons during the Fischer-Tropsch stage.

Gas2 GTL process. Click to enlarge.

Gas2 expects that its will result in considerably lower capital (CAPEX) and operational (OPEX) expenditure and a smaller environmental footprint compared to conventional GTL technologies.

The new investment will leverage further funding that will enable the construction of a pilot reactor plant to test and demonstrate the technology on a 0.4 acre site at the specialist petrochemical research Wilton Centre in Cleveland in the Northeast of England, and further laboratory work and computerized modeling in Aberdeen.

The pilot plant will be constructed in 2012 with testing underway by the end of the year. The commercialization phase will commence in 2013. The technology will be commercialized as an integrated GTL system and as standalone Syngas and Fischer Tropsch reactors available on the market.

Proposed applications for the Gas2 GTL technology include:

• stranded gas: transforming the economic viability of smaller, more remote gas reserves as well as shale and unconventional reservoirs;

• offshore ‘associated’ gas: offering a ‘gas disposal’ solution for unwanted associated gas thereby preventing flaring and enabling the development of remote oilfields where flaring is prohibited and /or gas re-injection wells are expensive or detrimental to reservoir performance;

• gas conversion to alternative end products including gasoline, diesel, waxes, ammonia, methanol, hydrogen and ethylene for industrial use.

Simmons & Company International Ltd were corporate finance advisors to the fundraising from existing shareholders including Lime Rock Partners LLP, Robert Gordon University and a group of private investors with substantial interests in the oil, gas and hydrocarbons processing industries.