US Developer Plans Gas-to-Gasoline Plant

Natural gas-to-gasoline developer Nacero is to licence Haldor Topsoe's engineering for a facility in Casa Grande, Arizona, Topsoe said March 26. The plant will convert gas into 35,000 barrels/day of finished gasoline using trademarked Tigas technology. Pending final investment decision, Topsoe will also supply proprietary hardware, catalysts, and services, it said. 

Normally gas to liquids projects require a wide spread between crude and gas prices to justify the costly engineering and construction, but much US gas is flared. The fuel will also be cleaner than conventionally produced gasoline.

In May 2019, the world's first Tigas natural gas-to-gasoline plant started production of 15,500 b/d of gasoline in Turkmenistan. The owner and operator is Turkmengas, and Kawasaki Heavy Industries and Ronesans were the engineering, procurement and construction contractors. 

Gasoline from Tigas system is free of sulphur, cost-competitive, and seamlessly replaces traditional gasoline in car engines. It needs "large amounts of natural gas, which today is often vented or flared, and converts the gas into a useful product," it said.

Nacero said the deal would enable it to "quickly and predictably create meaningful benefits at world-class scale."

Topsoe developed the Tigas technology and catalysts in the late 1970s and has continuously improved the solution through an extensive research and development programme for over 40 years.

 Tigas comprises Topsoe's proprietary and widely used SynCOR Methanol technology that secures exceptional economy of scale. The Nacero plant will produce more than 10,000 metric tons per day (MTPD) of methanol, which is further processed to gasoline. The only byproduct from the process is purified water which is a valuable resource in the dry area.

 The process also "has a very high carbon efficiency, and the Nacero facility will have the flexibility to meet various specifications and grades of gasoline," Topsoe said.