Alternate Use of Natural Gas

Conversion of natural gas to liquid fuels is normally referred to as ‘Gas-to-Liquids’ or GTL-processes. The liquid fuels may be transport fuels (diesel and gasoline) produced via Fischer-Tropsch synthesis, and also alternative fuels such as methanol (MeOH) and dimethylether (DME). The properties and potential use of these products as transport fuel or fuel for power production are described in (1,2). All current production processes require that the natural gas is first converted to synthesis gas which is subsequently converted in a synthesis section to product. For all the products mentioned, the synthesis gas section is the most capital and energy intensive part of the production plant, responsible for most of the energy requirements and for 50 75% of the capital costs. Therefore, major efforts have focused on optimizing the processes for synthesis gas production and on exploring new schemes to replace or complement the existing schemes. Page 1 of 17 Alternate Use of Natural Gas