Rentech Inc., Denver, said Tuesday it will conduct a feasibility study to apply its patented and proprietary Fischer-Tropsch gas-to-liquids (GTL) process to convert industrial off-gas (IOG) into sulfur- and aromatic-free GTL products.
Rentech said a major chemical company has engaged it to perform the study for at a plant in the US. The parties, which agreed to keep terms the deal confidential, expect the work to take 60-90 days. Rentech expects the plant could begin producing GTL products as early as 2002.
Rentech said indications are that IOG-GTL retrofits can be built at a cost of $8,000-$10,000/b/d with a 12 to18 months required for startup.
It said greenfield GTL projects fed by natural gas are being quoted at $20,000 to $30,000/b/d with 3-5 year lag times to reach commercial status.
Earlier this year, Rentech said it would convert the Sand Creek methanol plant near Denver to the first commercial GTL plant in the US (OGJ Online, Aug. 25, 2000).
