(103b) Challenges and Opportunities in Small-Scale Gas-to-Liquids (GTL) Processing

The original, 1930's-era German FT plants were small by modern standards, producing 1,000-2,000 BPD at most. By the 1990's, on the other hand, interest focused on much larger plants, capable of producing 10's to 100's of thousand BPD using remote, stranded gas supplies. Over the last 10-15 years interest to smaller plants producing 1,000's to even a few hundred BPD has increased enormously. Small plants can be attractive from a number of perspectives, including much lower capital costs (hence risk), shorter construction schedules, wider availability of feedstocks and locations, as well as mass-production of more-or-less identical units. However these smaller plants are also significantly challenged by dis-economies of scale, which are manifest at different scales for different unit processes and different pieces of equipment.