TITLE: Conversion of associated natural gas to liquid hydrocarbons. Final report, June 1, 1995--January 31, 1997.

INST.  AUTHOR: Energy International Corp., Pittsburgh, PA (United States).

SPONSOR: Department of Energy, Washington, DC.

LANGUAGE: English

PUB.  TYPE: Technical Report

PUB.  COUNTRY: United States

SOURCE: Department of Energy [DE],  1997,  150p.

NTIS ORDER NO.: DE98054194INW

ABSTRACT:

The original concept envisioned for the use of Fischer-Tropsch processing (FTP) of United States associated natural gas in this study was to provide a way of utilizing gas which could not be brought to market because a pipeline was not available or for which there was no local use. Conversion of gas by FTP could provide a means of utilizing offshore associated gas which would not require installation of a pipeline or re-injection. The premium quality F-T hydrocarbons produced by conversion of the gas can be transported in the same way as the crude oil or in combination (blended) with it, eliminating the need for a separate gas transport system. FTP will produce a synthetic crude oil, thus increasing the effective size of the resource. The two conventional approaches currently used in US territory for handling of natural gas associated with crude petroleum production are re-injection and pipelining. Conversion of natural gas to a liquid product which can be transported to shore by tanker can be accomplished by FTP to produce hydrocarbons, or by conversion to chemical products such as methanol or ammonia, or by cryogenic liquefaction (LNG).  This study considers FTP and briefly compares it to methanol and LNG. The Energy International Corporation cobalt catalyst, ratio adjusted, slurry bubble column F-T process was used as the basis for the study and the comparisons. An offshore F-T plant can best be accommodated by an FPSO Floating Production, Storage, Offloading vessel) based on a converted surplus tanker, such as have been frequently used around the world recently. Other structure types used in deep water (platforms) are more expensive and cannot handle the required load.

REPORT  NUMBER: DOE/MC/32079-99

CONTRACT  NUMBER: AC21-95MC32079