Fuel Resources Development Co. (Fuelco), Pueblo, Colo., has broken ground for a plant it believes to be industry's first operation to convert landfill gases to diesel fuel and other products.
Fuelco, the oil and gas exploration unit of Public Service Co. of Colorado, plans to invest as much as $16 million on the synthetic hydrocarbon technology (Synhytech) project it is building on a Pueblo landfill site.
The plant will convert the landfill's methane and carbon dioxide to diesel fuel, naphtha, and high grade industrial wax, Fuelco said. The company hopes to have the plant operating by yearend and expects the site to produce about 235 b/d for 20 years.
Ultrasystems Engineers & Constructors Inc., Irvine, Calif., a subsidiary of Hadson Corp., Oklahoma City, holds a contract to engineer and build the plant. Environmental Technologies International Inc., Colorado Springs, designed the system for gathering landfill gas to feed the plant.
Rentech Inc., Denver, and Fuelco jointly developed the conversion process. Fuelco, which owns the conversion technology license, plans other Synhytech projects if the Pueblo plant succeeds.
CONVERSION PROCESS
The Synhytech process is a variation of conversion technology invented in Germany in the 1920s, Fuelco said. It can also be used with other sources of methane.
Wells drilled into the landfill capture carbon dioxide and methane generated by waste decomposition. The gases are drawn from the wells into a gathering system, then moved into the conversion plant.
After removal of sulfur components, a steam reformer causes a chemical reaction by adding steam to the methane and carbon dioxide. Steam reforming produces water and a hydrogen/carbon monoxide synthetic gas.
Carbon dioxide is removed, and the synthetic gas is cooled, then put through a synthesis reaction that creates five groups of hydrocarbons-waxes, water/alcohol mixture, diesel fuel, naphtha, and tail gases.
Much of the tail gas is used for process heat and plant electrical power. The water/alcohol mixture and remaining gases are recycled, leaving three marketable products: diesel fuel, naphtha, and wax.
Diesel fuel produced with Synhytech technology has been tested by the Detroit Diesel Corp., Environmental Testing Corp., Aurora, Colo., and California Air Resources Board, El Monte.
Fuelco said tests showed Synhytech diesel fuel is clean burning, sulfur free, and nearly odorless. It does not require engine modifications.
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