The rising price and worldwide shortage of crude oil has made it imperative for China to look at alternative sources of energy due to the country’s rapid economic development in recent years. A shortage of fuel in China would impede on the country’s economic development in the future.
A Wits team of researchers from the Centre of Material and Process Synthesis (COMPS) are working to produce fuel from coal in China. This is the largest project ever assumed by Wits University in this area. The project is being led by two A-rated scientists from Wits University, Profs. David Glasser and Dianne Hildebrandt. The team has more than fifteen years experience in researching and designing Fischer-Tropsch (FT) technology.
According to Glasser, while many other countries in the world would look to the use of natural gas as an alternative source to produce fuel, China cannot look to this source as it has very little natural gas resources. “China is unique in that it has very little natural gas, but fortunately an abundant supply of coal throughout the country. We are looking at how we can use the technology and expertise that we have developed over the years to help them produce fuel from coal,” says Glasser.
“The main aim of this multidisciplinary project is to make cleaner, faster and cheaper fuel from coal,” says Brendon Hausberger, a Director of COMPS. ”This project is unique in that it is the largest project of this calibre undertaken by a university in this field. With eight COMPS staff members and twenty research students working on the project, it provides excellent training for the team to work on developing a life-size plant from scratch, with minimal fundamental information.”
The first pilot project will be built in the Shaanxi province in China this year at a cost of approximately R75-million funded by the Golden Nest Technology Group. If the pilot is successful, the first commercial plant will be built. COMPS signed a contract with Golden Nest Technology Group in 2003 to provide the conceptual foundation for a coal-to-liquid plant with a production capacity of 3-million tons per year.
COMPS will partner with international teams to design and oversee the development of a 100,000 tonnes per annum (tpa) gas to liquids demonstration plant in China in the next year. “The objective of this plant is to demonstrate that we are able to quickly and effectively build an economical plant that is robust in its control and operation,” says Hildebrandt. Should this initial project be successful, we will then look at the development of a 3,000,000 tpa production facility. These future plants will incorporate the latest innovations arising from the pilot plant study.
“The team is looking at an optimal design of a plant that has low capital costs such that a group of smaller investors could raise the capital; has a low risk design, is inherently stable to operate and start up and is suited for a third world environment, in terms of operator skills and capital intensity.
“COMPS has developed expertise in this area through many years of research in process synthesis and catalyst development and it is an exciting opportunity to see this knowledge translated into commercial practice,” says Hildebrandt. These theoretical ideas suggest novel ways of looking at chemical plants that result in a design that looks very different from the megaplants that are traditionally built in the developed economies of the world.
According to Glasser, the benefits to South Africa from this project is manifold. Firstly, this is testing the concept of building low capital, low risk but lower efficiency chemical plants that have quicker times to market and is more suitable to the developing world. Secondly, the postgraduate students involved in this project will be trained in the development of new processes, analysing the rate limiting processes and designing accordingly. Thirdly, South Africa has coal based technology which inherently produces large quantities of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. The concepts that will be explored in this project with a view to implementation in subsequent plants, could reduce the CO2 emissions in coal based economies. He says that this will be vital in terms of increased economic efficiency as well as in the future if limitations and taxes are put on CO2 emissions internationally.
“This venture does not come without its challenges. Aside from the cultural and language barriers that we face, the climate in the Chinese province where the plant is being built fluctuates tremendously as the seasons change,” says Glasser. “However, once it is proven that this technology works on a large scale, there are endless opportunities for bringing the technology to Africa and the rest of the world.”
For interviews, contact:
Prof. Diane Hildebrandt on (011) 717-7527 or 083 395 2921 or Prof. David Glasser on (011) 717-7557 or 083 395 2925
Read the article from the Business Day.