Biofuel developer Velocys and Brazilian oil company Petrobras to develop gas-to-liquid pilot

10 February 2010

Velocys, UK synthetic fuel developer Oxford Catalysts Group’s US-based subsidiary, has signed a joint demonstration and testing agreement with Brazilian national oil company Petróleo Brasileiro (Petrobras) alongside its existing partners Toyo Engineering Corporation and zero emission vehicle developer Modec. The parties have agreed to construct and operate an integrated gas-to-liquid demonstration plant based on the their technologies.

‘This cooperative development project will not only greatly enhance the environmental performance of classic oil floating, production, storage and offloading (FPSOs), it will also promote the monetisation of waste gas, and create an opportunity for the introduction of a new generation of FPSOs in marginal gas field developments,’ said Kenji Yamada, chairman and CEO of Modec.

The gas to liquid demonstration plant, which will be located at the Petrobras facility in Fortaleza, Brazil, will incorporate the group’s microchannel reactor and catalyst technologies for the key steam methane reforming and fischer-tropsch sections of the plant.

The total cost of the plant, estimated at several tens of millions of dollars, will be covered by Toyo Engineering and Modec, whilst Petrobras will be responsible for the installation and operating costs of the demonstration. The demonstration plant will operate for nine months after its construction and delivery in early 2011, and the subsequent commissioning and testing periods.

Following successful demonstration, it is expected that the first commercial deployment of the group’s small scale gas to liquid technology may be on an FPSO to mitigate flaring of associated gas resulting from the development of offshore oil fields.

Yutaka Yamada, president and CEO of Toyo Engineering, said, ‘The size and cost advantages of microchannel technology offer the best opportunity to develop offshore gas to liquid as a practical way of producing commercially significant quantities of synthetic fuels on FPSO vessels.’

The group said it will be working to manufacture its reactors with Japanese steel-maker Kobe Steel, with whom it has been collaborating for over a year.

Roy Lipski, CEO of Oxford Catalysts Group, said, ‘This represents a crucial milestone in the development of our small scale gas to liquid technology, and a very significant commitment by Toyo Engineering, Modec and Petrobras to its demonstration and commercialisation. Signing the joint demonstration and testing agreement is an important step forward in our engagement with our partners, and strong confirmation of their confidence in our technology and support for its deployment.’

With offices in Oxfordshire, UK, and Ohio, US, AIM-listed Oxford Catalysts designs and develops technology for the production of clean synthetic fuels from conventional fossil fuels and renewable sources such as biowaste.

The Toyo Engineering Corporation, headquartered in Chiba, Japan, is a global engineering, procurement and construction firm that specialises in the petrochemicals, chemicals, energy and environmental industries.

Modec, headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, provides floating production storage and offloading vessels (FPSOs) to the oil industry.

With some $128bn of revenues in 2008, Petrobras is a state-controlled semi-public Brazilian multinational energy company, headquartered in Rio de Janeiro, which controls significant oil and energy assets.

Copyright © 2010 NewNet

Tags: biofuel

This story was published on Wednesday, February 10th, 2010 at 11:47 am and is filed under Europe, biomass/biofuel, companies. You can follow any responses to article entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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