Syngas News Roundup

Syngas News

UNITED STATES

Blue methanol project proposal

The Bia Energy Operating Company says that it is evaluating a $550 million blue methanol plant at the port of Caddo-Bossier in Shreveport, Louisiana. The unit would have a capacity of 530,000 t/a of methanol using natural gas feedstock with downstream carbon capture, reducing CO2 emissions by more than 90% compared to other methanol plants. The company is expected to make a final decision in 1Q 2022, with construction expected to last approximately two years, and commercial operations to begin soon after.

State governor John Edwards said: “Louisiana welcomes and supports Bia Energy’s plans for investment, job creation and increased economic activity in Northwest Louisiana. BEOC’s proposed use of carbon capture technology is important, as we continue a trend of industrial growth in Louisiana that aligns with our commitment to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. We look forward to seeing this project progress and become operational in the near term.”

US methanol capacity continues to increase, with Louisiana seeing the start-up of the 1.6 million t/a Koch plant last year, and Methanex deciding to proceed with a third plant at its Geismar, Louisiana site. The country already has 10 million t/a of capacity against 7 million t/a of demand, and exports to Europe and Asia are set to increase.

DoE provides loan guarantee for ‘turquoise’ hydrogen plant

The US Department of Energy has offered its first conditional loan guarantee to a non-nuclear project since 2016 to help finance a commercial-scale ‘turquoise’ hydrogen and carbon black plant in Hallam, Nebraska. The guarantee covers a loan of up to $1.04 billion to Monolith, a company which is pioneering a methane pyrolysis process, to expand its Olive Creek site from 14,000 t/a to 194,000 t/a. Monolith’s process converts natural gas into hydrogen and high purity carbon black using renewable energy, converting the carbon dioxide to pure carbon and hence preventing its release to atmosphere. Kiewit has been awarded the engineering, construction, and procurement contract for the expansion, which is expected to be on-stream in 2024.

Monolith’s technology was purchased from Kværner (now Aker Solutions) in 2013. Kværner built a commercial-scale methane pyrolysis facility using hot plasma in Norway in 1997, but decommissioned the plant in 2003. Monolith is now backed by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI), which bought into the project in December 2020, as well as a variety of venture capital investors and utility giant NextEra Energy Resources.

The Nebraska expansion is also expected to include an ammonia plant using the hydrogen to produce 275,000 t/a of carbon-free ammonia.

EGYPT

EBIC’s green hydrogen plant to startup in November

The Egypt Basic Industries Corporation (EBIC) says that it is looking to November 2022 for the start-up of the country’s first green hydrogen plant. The plant is being developed by a consortium which includes Egypt’s sovereign wealth fund, Norwegian renewables developer Scatec, ADNOC and Fertiglobe, the owning company of ENIC. Scatec will install 100 MW of solar powered electrolysis capacity, which will generate sufficient hydrogen to produce 90,000 t/a of ammonia at EBIC’s existing Ain Sokhna ammonia facility. The consortium partners are targeting a start date of 2024 for operations

Methanol-ammonia plant for Ain Sokhna

Ain Sokhna is also the site for a new $2.6 billion methanol-ammonia development, backed by Egypt’s Suez Canal Economic Zone. The project is intended to be executed in two phases, with completion of the first phase by 2025 at an investment cost of about $1.6 billion. The second phase, with an estimated cost of about $1 billion, would involve building downstream acetic acid, methanol to olefins, and nitric acid/calcium ammonium nitrate capacity over the period of a further three years. Targeted production capacity for the first phase is 1.0 million t/a of methanol and 400,000 t/a of ammonia. The partners in the International Methanol Company are Egypt’s Abu Qir Fertilizers (25%) and Helwan Fertilizers Co (25%) and the Al-Ahly Capital Holding Co (50%).

GERMANY

FOERSTER buys Quest Integrity’s syngas business

In December 2021 Germany’s FOERSTER Group – formerly known as Magnetische Pruefanlagen GmbH – completed the acquisition of Quest Integrity’s Syngas business unit. The acquisition includes both the business unit’s technical staff and its LOTIS® and Mantis™ inspection technologies. As Magnetische Pruefanlagen, FOERSTER has been a leader in the field of reformer tube testing for ammonia, methanol, hydrogen and direct reduction iron (DRI) plants, with proprietary technology for checking tubes that are exposed to high pressure and temperature for damage. Test results are used to define preventive maintenance intervals to increase the service life and prevent failures that can lead to unscheduled system outages and production loss. Earlier in 2021 Magnetische Pruefanlagen merged with Institut Dr. Foerster GmbH & Co. KG to create FOERSTER, and also subsequently bought US Thermal Technology (USTT) in the Americas, creating synergies and expanding the company’s sales network worldwide.

DENMARK

Maersk unveils new methanol-powered container ship design

Shipping giant Maersk has unveiled a new large 16,000 teu (20’ equivalent unit) container ship design, powered by methanol. The company sees green methanol as the preferred future shipping fuel of choice. The design puts crew accommodation and the funnel at opposite ends of the vessel, to improve capacity and port and fuel efficiency. It will be able to operate on dual-fuel, incorporating conventional low-sulphur and green methanol. The design features a 16,000 m3 methanol fuel tank, enabling the ship to travel long distances using the fuel – an important consideration, since it has less energy per kg than HFO or marine diesel. Maersk claims the vessel represents a further commitment to methanol as a fuel of the future, after it began construction of several 2,000 teu methanol-powered feeder vessels. Liquid at room temperature, methanol is more practical than hydrogen in terms of storage, with several times the energy density, as well as being less toxic than ammonia if spilled or inhaled. It is also clean burning, emitting no NOx or SOx, and only minimal particulate matter. Maersk says that it is evaluating both methanol made from renewable hydrogen and captured carbon, and biomethanol, as part of its life cycle emissions calculations. Maersk’s move towards methanol fuelling is leading to the shipping industry taking green methanol much more seriously as a future fuel.

Haldor Topsoe to divest its shares in Faradion

Haldor Topsoe is to sell its 16% stake in rechargeable battery manufacturer Faradion, as part of a sale of the company to Reliance New Energy Solar Limited (RNESL), a wholly owned subsidiary of India’s Reliance Industries. Reliance is paying £100 million ($134 million) for the company, and has also agreed to invest a further £25 million ($34 million) in Faradion. Topsoe says that it will continue its focus on battery technology based on its own lithium-nickel-manganese oxide (LNMO) materials.

UZBEKISTAN

Work complete on GTL project

EPC contractor Hyundai Engineering said in December that it had completed construction work on Uzbekistan’s $3.6 billion gas to liquids (GTL) plant at Kashkadarya, 400 km southeast of Tashkent. The Oltin Yo’l GTL plant will process 3.6 bcm of natural gas per year to produce 1.5 million t/a of synthetic kerosene, diesel, aviation jet fuel and LPG, as well as naphtha, the latter being supplied to the Shurtan Gas Chemical Complex. The plant is owned and operated by state owned oil and gas company Uzbekneftegaz, and was designed using Sasol Fischer-Tropsch technology. It is the world’s sixth large scale GTL plant, and will supply fuels to the local Uzbek market.

CHINA

World’s largest green hydrogen plant under construction

Chinese state oil company Sinopec says that it has started work on the world’s largest solar-powered hydrogen electrolysis plant. The $470 million facility, which is being built in the western Xinjiang province, is expected to produce up to 20,000 t/a of green hydrogen using a 300 MW electrolysis unit. The facility also includes a spherical hydrogen storage tank with a capacity of 210,000 standard cubic meters, and hydrogen transmission pipelines with a capacity of 28,000 m3 /h per hour. The green hydrogen produced by the plant will be supplied to Sinopec Tahe Refining & Chemical to replace the existing natural gas and fossil energy used in hydrogen production. IIt is estimated that the plant will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 485,000 tons a year once it is put into operation in June 2023.

“Hydrogen energy is one of the sources of clean energy that has the most potential for development. This pilot project gives full play to Xinjiang’s advantage in its wealth of resources and is a key project for Sinopec to build a No.1 hydrogen energy company. It’s also a major strategic achievement for local-enterprise cooperation and is of great significance to promoting social and economic development in Xinjiang, advancing energy transformation, ensuring China’s energy security and supporting the sustainable development of the global economy,” said Ma Yongsheng, president of Sinopec.