Wednesday 21st November 2007
Small Scale Processes and New Catalysts to Have a Big Impact in Fischer-Tropsch

Relatively small scale processes such as biomass to liquids (BTL), associated gas to liquids (GTL) and coal to liquids (CTL) look likely to take up the slack in the ongoing commercialisation of Fischer-Tropsch (FT) technology, predicts Derek Atkinson, Business Development Director at Oxford Catalysts. Atkinson was speaking in his role as chairman of the afternoon session on day two of the Gas to Liquids 2007 conference held on 30-31 October in London, UK.

Although rising construction costs have led to a dip in the announcement of further large scale gas to liquid (GTL) projects, Atkinson suggests that rising oil prices mean that making fuels from low cost raw materials is now more economic than it has ever been. Developments in both technology and catalysts will play a key role.

Atkinson says:

"The technologies discussed at Gas to Liquids 2007 will play an important role in future GTL projects. And equally important will be the development of a novel class of catalysts based on metal carbides, such as those developed by Oxford Catalysts. These could potentially exceed the benefits associated with the use of precious metal promoters in FT reactions, but at a lower cost."

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Notes to Editors

Oxford Catalysts Group PLC, the leading catalyst innovator for clean fuels, designs and develops specialty catalysts for the generation of clean fuels from both conventional fossil fuels and certain renewable sources such as biomass. Its patent-pending technology is the result of almost 20 years of research at the University of Oxford's prestigious Wolfson Catalysis Centre, headed by Professor Malcolm Green, one of the world's most respected inorganic chemists. Oxford Catalysts was founded by Professor Green and Dr Xiao in October 2004 and was admitted to trading on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange on 26th April 2006, having raised £15m before expenses from a solid base of institutional investors.

Oxford Catalysts' strategy is to license its catalysts for commercial application by entering into co-development partnerships with leading manufacturers, producers and suppliers in the petroleum, petrochemicals, fuel cells, biogas, steam applications and catalysis markets.

Oxford Catalysts has two key platform technologies. The first is for a novel class of catalysts made from metal carbides which, for certain reactions, can match or exceed the benefits of traditional precious metal catalysts at a lower cost. Applications of these metal-carbide catalysts include the removal of sulphur from crude oil fractions (known as hydro-desulphurisation or HDS), the conversion of natural gas or coal into virtually sulphur-free liquid fuels via the Fischer-Tropsch reaction (known as the GTL and CTL processes respectively), and the transformation of biogas (waste methane) into syngas - the building block of liquid fuels.

The second platform relates to chemical reactions involving a liquid containing a renewable fuel, such as methanol, ethanol or glycerol, and dilute hydrogen peroxide. The company's novel catalyst can be used to release hydrogen gas from this liquid, instantaneously starting from room temperature. This groundbreaking Instant Hydrogen technology has the potential to significantly accelerate the commercial adoption of fuel cells in the portable and other mobile markets, by providing the much needed source of cheap, safe, transportable hydrogen.

Another of the company's catalysts can be used to produce steam at temperatures between 100ºC and 800ºC+ instantaneously starting from room temperature, from a liquid fuel containing dilute hydrogen peroxide and either an alcohol, sugar, glycerol, starch or formic acid. Such Instant Steam could have important applications in a broad range of markets, from cleaning and disinfecting, to green energy in the form of motive power or electricity.

www.oxfordcatalysts.com

The Fischer-Tropsch (FT) process was developed in Germany in the early part of the last century as a way to produce liquid fuels, such as diesel, from coal. Initially, the availability of cheap oil meant that the FT process was only used when political expediency required it. It was used, for example, in Germany during the second world war, and in South Africa during the apartheid era.

In the FT process, a synthesis gas consisting of a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen, is converted into paraffinic hydrocarbons over a catalyst. These days the catalysts are typically based on cobalt. The cobalt catalysts usually need to be modified by the addition of precious metal promoters in order to obtain the desired activity. Oxford Catalysts' patented technology allows the cobalt catalysts to be produced without the need for precious metal promoters without any loss of performance.

Thanks to advances in catalyst technology, the FT process has become cost competitive and it is now possible to use feedstocks such as natural gas and biogas, as well as coal, for the production of the feed synthesis gas. The range of products produced is also greater and includes diesel, naphtha and bases for synthetic lubricants. Generally the products produced by the FT process are actually of higher quality than those derived by conventional means, so the FT process can be used to produce premium products of greater value.

For more information about the Gas to Liquids 2007 conference see:
http://www.smi-online.co.uk/event_media/overview.asp?is=5&ref=2731