Petro/Chemicals - Fischer-Tropsch

Oxford Catalysts has two main carbide-based catalysts for the petroleum and petrochemicals markets:

Hydro-desulphurisation (HDS) and Fischer-Tropsch (FT).

Fischer-Tropsch ("FT")

The Process

The FT reaction is the key step in the process of converting natural gas (mainly methane) or coal into virtually sulphur-free liquid fuels, such as gasoline or diesel (known as GTL and CTL respectively). It uses hydrogen gas and carbon monoxide – known as syngas – to make waxes which are then split into liquid fuels.

The Market

GTL and CTL are disruptive technologies, opening up the oil transportation fuels market – which comprises approximately 50% of total oil markets – to competition from gas and coal. It is estimated that by 2030 the GTL market will grow from 12,500 to several million bbl/day, making it the fastest growing niche in the global energy market. The CTL market is also projected to rise to as much as 1.7m bbl/day by 2030 in the US alone. This combined level of production could require some $2.6bn of FT catalyst per annum.

The Benefits

Testing of our carbide-based FT catalyst by an oil major and at the University of Oxford showed that in comparison to the leading available industrial catalyst our product had:

• greater cost effectiveness
• double the productivity on a weight-for-weight basis
• higher quality output
• a tolerance to higher levels of water and carbon dioxide, making it particularly well-suited to CTL, where such contaminants are typically found