This info below is from a link provided by a poster on the ADE...

This info below is from a link provided by a poster on the ADE site its a little lengthy but I think a good read. Its talks about GTL technology currently being researched by Beach and the CSIRO and was published in February this year.

Gas-to-liquids technology can help produce cleaner fuels from remote gas fields and thats just a fraction of what it can do. Beach Energy and CSIROs Dr Valrie Sage discuss the technology and its potential in Australia.

Gas-to-liquids (GTL) technology is not well established in Australia, but commercial-scale plants operate globally in countries like Malaysia, South Africa and Qatar.

Closer to home, Beach Energy is investigating its potential in South Australia�s Cooper Basin through an agreement with US-based Rentech, which uses the Fischer-Tropsch process to transform natural gas into synthetic fuels and fertilisers.
Just three steps

The conversion of natural gas into liquid transport fuels can be done through various processes, but the most widely-used process involves Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis.

Using this three-step process, methane and oxygen are firstly converted into synthesis gas (syngas), a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen. This syngas is then converted into aliphatic hydrocarbons by way of Fischer-Tropsch reaction. Finally, these hydrocarbons undergo further treatment to yield clean middle distillates as products primarily LPG, naphtha and transportation fuels, such as diesel and jet fuels.

The process also produces high quality lubricants and waxes, which can be used in the food and pharmaceutical industries.

Australian applications

Among the increasing number of commercialisation options available to companies seeking to commercialise gas assets, why choose GTL?

Although some gas fields are important and attractive for industries that use large volumes of gas such as LNG due to their location (close or onshore), an important portion of the Australian resources are remote, or offshore, where pipeline transport is difficult, says Dr Valrie Sage, Research Project Leader Natural Gas Processing and Conversion Group, CSIRO Earth Science and Resource Engineering.

The possibility of transforming this non-easily transportable gas into an easily transportable liquid fuel will therefore help with the monetisation of these unconventional gas resources.

In addition, associate gas (natural gas encountered in oil reservoirs), which can no longer be flared, could be transformed to liquid fuels, which could then be transported together with the oil, says Dr Sage.

In addition, notes Dr Sage, GTL offers opportunities for diversification of both feedstock and products portfolios.

How big?

Due to the nature and location of its gas reserves, Australia stands to benefit from efficient plants on a smaller scale than those currently in operation around the world, says Dr Sage.

In developing remote resources as GTL projects, plants with a capacity of no more than 20,000 barrels per day (bbl/d) would be ideal as they are easily transportable, particularly if modularised.

The size of existing commercial GTL plants around the world varies. The smallest, located in Malaysia, has a capacity of 15,000 bbl/d of liquids. Shells Pearl GTL Project, the worlds largest commercial GTL plant, is set to be commissioned in 2011. Located in Qatar, it will be able to produce 140,000 bbl/d of liquids from two trains.

Early stages

With only four commercial-scale plants operating around the world, and another two under construction, GTL is still considered to be in its infancy. Before GTL processes can become economically viable and compete with processes like LNG, challenges such as size, cost and efficiency of GTL plants need to be addressed, says Dr Sage.

There is, however, keen interest in the technology.
A number of commercial-scale plants are in development, mostly in the United States, Middle East and Asia. In Australia, Beach Energy is considering a GTL development for its Cooper Basin shale gas resources, alongside consideration of power generation or LNG plant developments.
A number of small scale (less than 100 bbl/d) demonstration plants have also been and are being developed for research purposes.

Among them is CSIRO's newly-commissioned synthetic fuels facility, SynCat, located in Perth, Western Australia. Information generated by the facility will drive research aimed at lowering both the capital and operating costs of GTL plants and advancing the development of a natural GTL industry in Australia.

Fine fuels

The synthetic fuel produced through the GTL process presents several advantages, says Dr Sage. It is cleaner than conventional fuel, with no sulphur or aromatics, and is therefore more efficient and produces less greenhouse gas emissions at the end usage. Secondly, it is compatible with the existing distribution and usage infrastructure, which is to say that there is no need for any modification in a car.

These premium fuels can be used neat or as a valuable blend stock to improve conventional diesel in order to meet the required standard, says Dr Sage.

It could also bring on some extra export revenue from countries where the market for premium diesel is more important.

This high quality product is part of the reason Beach is investigating GTL. The company notes that liquid transport fuels made from natural gas are much cleaner than fuels made from traditional refined crude oil products.
Australia is a large consumer of diesel and other liquid transport fuels and is a major importer of the crude oil required to produce these fuels, the company says. In investigating the potential of GTL processes for its resources, Beach acknowledges that the liquid fuels produced could displace some of the fuels based on imported crude oil.

In addition, the Australian agricultural industry currently imports very large volumes of nitrogen-based fertilisers, largely from the Middle East. This presents a significant opportunity for Australian-produced fertilisers to enter the market, potentially replacing more expensive imported products.

To market, to market

Beach sees market forces as the driver for GTL technology, noting the increase in crude oil prices as a reason to develop fuels from natural gas.

Dr Sage concurs;With an increase of crude oil import prices and a peak in the Australian oil production in 2000, the ability to transform natural gas into synthetic liquid fuels is a key element of Australias future energy security and self sufficiency.

The cleanliness of fuel produced via the Fischer-Tropsch process is also a factor that will help develop the market, says Beach: As new technologies arise and as energy demand inevitably grows, it is very clear that demand for energy products based on clean-burning natural gas will rise.

In particular, says Beach, jet fuel is an example of a speciality fuel that will continue to be in high demand. Rentech's synthetic jet fuel has already been tested in flight and has received accreditation from the Federal Aviation Authority in the United States.