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Advances make gas-to-liquids process competitive for remote locations

Aug. 4, 1997

Researchers at Williams Cos. perform bench-scale analyses using a catalyst-testing apparatus (Fig. 2). By employing a new generation of cobalt-based catalysts, a new process, designated GasCat F-T, achieves higher productivity and improved catalytic performance compared to existing Fischer-Tropsch (F-T) techniques. The process also reduces capital requirements and operating costs by employing an advanced slurry bubble-column reactor (SBCR).

Alan H. Singleton is president and a founding partner of Energy International, a wholly owned subsidiary of Williams Field Services Inc., Tulsa. His areas of expertise include Fischer-Tropsch catalysis and process development, underground coal gasification, coal processing, and other alternate energy technologies. In the early 1980s, Singleton was involved in Gulf Oil Corp.'s Fischer-Tropsch endeavors and led Gulf's activities in the development of the first-of-a-kind Gulf-Badger process. He has a BS degree from the University of Maryland, College Park, and MS and PhD degrees from Lehigh University, all in chemical engineering.