Diesel49%

Jet Fuel20%

Naphtha21%

LPG10%

Product Distribution

Economic Analysis Introduction Motivation

Process Flow Diagram

Design Basis/Block Flow Diagram

Environmental Analysis

• We have taken advantage of the arbitrage in energy markets, where energy in

stranded natural gas is priced much lower than that in transportation fuels.

• By the incorporation of new technologies such as exhaustive hydrocracking of wax and oligomerization of the light ends, the Fischer-Tropsch Refinery can now convert 80% of products to transportation fuels as compared to 25%, which come with excellent cold flow properties, high cetane ratings, and high octane ratings.

• By refining modern technologies and incorporating a co-current reactor, the Fischer-Tropsch Refinery can now produce high quality transportation fuels for the future.

• A high cetane rating increases the thermodynamic efficiency of a diesel engine, which reduces CO2 and CO emissions into the atmosphere.

• Due to the absence of aromatics in the process, the resultant LPG, Diesel fuel, Jet fuel, and Naphtha are very clean. Absolutely no soot formation occurs in engines, which further reduces the CO2 and CO emissions into the environment.

• Due to the absence of sulfur, there are no SOx emissions and no sulphuric acid droplets in the Tropopause. Therefore, no acid-gas mist formation occurs. Droplet and SOx accumulation in the Tropopause causes global cooling, thus interfering with the global climate.

The Fischer-Tropsch process utilizes a collection of chemical reactions to convert a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide into liquid hydrocarbons. It has the capability of converting natural gas, coal, or biomass feedstocks into transportation fuels such gas as gasoline, jet, and diesel. These fuels are substantially higher in quality compared to fuels refined from crude oil and are more environmentally friendly. In the past decade, this process has become increasingly important because it is independent of the climbing price of crude oil.  Hydraulic fracturing for natural gas, when done properly, can be incredibly safe and has an excellent safety record. Conversely, the supply of easily extractable crude oil has been exhausted. Consequently, riskier methods of drilling have been adopted to obtain it.

The Fischer-Tropsch Refinery will be built close to the Bakken formation in Williston, ND. In the United States, advances in horizontal drilling technology has resulted in the massive influx of natural gas from the Bakken formation. This has resulted in a 50% decrease in the wellhead price of natural gas since 2010. Unfortunately, a lack of processing infrastructure means that approximately 30% of this valuable resource is being flared off. A Fischer-Tropsch Refinery is capable of taking advantage of this cheap natural gas to produce high quality transportation fuels for the US market, without having to create a new national distribution infrastructure.

Fischer Tropsch Refinery: High Quality Transportation Fuels from Natural GasTeam: Mudassir Ali, Stephen Drake, Kevin Meaux, Brandon Sieve

Mentor: Daniel Rusinak, Middough Engineers

• Expected simple payback period is 4.63 years.

• Prices of natural gas are expected to decrease further, which will significantly shorten the payback period.

• Syngas, Electricity, Boiler Feed Water and Steam are all some of the internal transferables which are being provided at no cost due to plant integration.

• The Fischer-Tropsch Reactor, Hydrocracker, and Oligomerization Unit make up the bulk of the capital cost.

Shale gas complex• The Fischer-Tropsch Refinery is one

of the nine plants of an integrated shale gas complex.

• The Fischer-Tropsch Refinery is receiving the Syngas from the Syngas plant. Electricity, Steam, and Boiler Feed Water come from the CHP plant at no cost.

• The purge is being sent out to the CHP plant to produce electricity and steam. The aqueous stream is being sent to the Water Treatment plant.

*Total Income after taxes

** www.eia.gov

** www.eia.gov

1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21$0.00

$500,000,000.00

$1,000,000,000.00

$1,500,000,000.00

$2,000,000,000.00

$2,500,000,000.00

Simple Payback Period

Total Capital CostTotal Profit

Years

US

Dollars

1986

1988

1990

1992

1994

1996

1998

2000

2002

2004

2006

2008

2010

2012

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

WTI Crude Spot Price FOB (Dollars per Barrel)

Cushing, OK WTI Spot Price FOB (Dollars per Barrel)

Dollars

per

barr

el

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

North Dakota Natural Gas Wellhead Price

(Dollars per Thousand Cubic Feet)

North Dakota Natural Gas Wellhead Price (Dollars per Thousand Cubic Feet)

Dollars

per

thousand c

ubic

feet

Revenue from Products ($ million)Products Year 1 Year 5 Year 10 Year 20

LPG 6.2 6.7 7.4 9.1Naphtha 50 54 60 73Jet Fuel 44 48 53 65Diesel 110 120 130 160

Total Revenue 210 230 250 310

Total Expenses 88 87 85 76Total Profit 74 400 870 2,080

FT ReactorCondensation

Train

Hydrocracker

Oligomerizer

Fractionation

Syngas- 250,000 lb/hr

Aqueous stream-120,000lb/hr Tail Gas-100,000 lb/hr

Total Product-5000 bbl/day2500 bbl/day Diesel

1100 bbl/day Gasoline1000 bbl/day J et500 bbl/day LPG

Product

Striking Characteristic

Use

LPG No CO emissions

Fork lift trucks, indoor vehicles.

Naphtha

High octane rating

Alternative and Premium blend stock for conventional gasoline

Jet fuel

Excellent cold flow properties

Alternative and premium blend stock for jet fuel

Diesel Cetane rating of 72

Alternative and premium blend stock for conventional diesel** Fischer Tropsch Refinery- Arno De Clerk

H2 Membrane

SyngasP-2

Fischer-Tropsch Reactor

Flash Drum

H2

3-Way Separator

Water

Oligomerization unit

Purge

DistillationColumn

LPG

DistillationColumn

J et Fuel

DieselDistillation

Column

Gasoline

Hydrocracker

Wax

DistillationColumn

LPG

H2

H2

Distillate

DistillationColumn

Gasoline

DistillationColumn

J et Fuel

DistillationColumn

Diesel

DistillationColumn

VGO/Residuum Recycle

H2

P-55