TITLE: Gasoline from natural gas by sulfur processing. Quarterly report No. 5 for the period July 1994--September 1994.

AUTHOR: E. J. Erekson;   F. Q. Miao.

INST.  AUTHOR: Institute of Gas Technology, Des Plaines, IL.

SPONSOR: Department of Energy, Washington, DC.

LANGUAGE: English

PUB.  TYPE: Technical Report

PUB.  COUNTRY: United States

SOURCE: Department of Energy [DE],  Oct 94,  14p.

NTIS ORDER NO.: DE95005561INW

ABSTRACT:

Natural gas is an abundant resource in various parts of the world. The major component of natural gas is methane, often comprising over 90% of the hydrocarbon fraction of the gas. The expanded use of natural gas as fuel is often hampered because of difficulties in storing and handling a gaseous fuel. This is especially true for natural gas in remote areas such as the North Slope of Alaska. The successful implementation of a natural gas-to-gasoline process would decrease dependence on imported oil for transportation fuels. These factors make it very desirable to convert natural gas to more valuable liquids. There are commercial processes for converting natural gas to gasoline-range liquids. These processes, such as the Fischer-Tropsch synthesis and Mobil's MTG (Methanol To Gasoline), start with the steam reforming of methane. Steam reforming of methane requires the removal of sulfur compounds present in natural gas down to less than 0.1 ppm. This additional gas cleanup step, with its additional cost, is necessary because the catalysts are quickly poisoned by sulfur compounds.

REPORT  NUMBER: DOE/PC/92114-T5

CONTRACT  NUMBER: AC22-93PC92114