Jeff McDaniel
MSW to Biofuels and Bio-products Summit, 6th October 2014
Case study: Velocys partnership with
Waste Management, Ventech Engineers
LLC and NRG Energy
Velocys
The company at the forefront of smaller scale GTL and BTL
• Leader in smaller scale gas-to-liquids technology
— 15 years and >$300 million invested in technology development
— Exhaustive global patent protection (>900 patents world-wide)
• Commercial roll-out underway
Solena GreenSky London
GTL JV
Red Rock
Biofuels
• Well capitalised with strong resources
— Commercial center in Houston, Texas; technical centers near Columbus,
Ohio and Oxford, UK
— Permanent pilot plant in operation
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The Fischer-Tropsch (FT) process
For biomass-to-liquids (BTL) and gas-to-liquids (GTL)
Gasification
Biomass,
waste
Syngas
carbon
monoxide
+ hydrogen
Fischer Tropsch
Hydroprocessing
Syncrude
Synthetic
crude oil
Clean
synthetic
fuels:
diesel,
naphtha,
jet fuel etc.
Reforming
Natural gas,
biogas
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Velocys Fischer-Tropsch fuels
Choose from a range of high value products
• “Drop in” replacement for petroleum derived fuels,
lubricants and other products
• Zero (or near zero) sulfur content
— Can be used as a blend stock for ultra-low
sulfur fuels
• High cetane
— Meets military specification for aviation fuel
— FT diesel powered every 24 hour Le Mans
winner since 2006
• Lower emissions
— Lower SOx, NOx and particulates compared to
petroleum fuels
— Quieter engine operation
4
Velocys Fischer-Tropsch specialty products
Choose from a range of high value products
C5
~20%
FT naphtha
Syngas
Co catalyzed
FT
Syncrude
~80%
FT wax
•
Highest quality and reproducibility
Gasoline blendstock
Transportation
fuels, tar
diluents
Mixed solvent
Coatings,
adhesives
Pure solvent
Pharma,
electronics,
personal care
Kerosene
Aero fuels,
surfactants
Diesel
Transportation
fuels
Lubricant basestock
Group III+
engine oils
Medium wax
Candles,
construction,
tires
Hard wax
Adhesives,
polymers,
personal care
— sulfur, amine and aromatic free
•
Excellent eco-tox profile products
•
Performance advantages in high end
product formulations
•
Added value specialty products
Gaussian
carbon
distribution
Approx.
95% N,
5% ISO
paraffin
C100
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The historical face of Fischer-Tropsch
Mega-scale GTL projects
Conventional Fischer-Tropsch reactor
6
Think Smaller
TM
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Think Smaller
Plant scaled to match MSW collection logistics
Conventional FT reactor
Velocys commercial FT reactor
Nothing wasted
Better options
• Smaller scale facilities makes
the most of the resources
available
• Smaller, low cost plants need
less gas or waste to be
profitable
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Smaller scale…
Improves the economics
Our design leverages standardization,
unlocking opportunities that were previously
uneconomic
• Our design is specific for smaller scale
plants, not just a scaled down large plant
Reactor manufacture
• Our components are standardized,
reducing costs
• Our strategic partnerships allow us to
deliver at volume
9
Smaller scale…
Works anywhere
Our plants are modular, so they are easier to
ship and easier to install
• Velocys reactors are significantly smaller
and lighter than conventional technology
• 70% of a plant can be factory-built before
installation
• Modular components fit in standard
containers for ease of shipping
1,400 bpd FT process unit
designed by Ventech Engineers
90 ft L x 46 ft H x ~40 ft W
• Building is fast, we’ve reduced the risk of
delays, and plants can even be integrated
with existing facilities
10
Smaller scale…
Works for anyone
Velocys unlocks more business
by working flexibly – allowing
companies to capitalize on more
opportunities
• Smaller projects means more
opportunities, accessible to
more companies
Ashtabula GTL
• We have strong partnerships
with key players throughout
the value chain
• Velocys can support all
aspects of project
development and execution
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Commercial roll-out
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JV with Waste Management, NRG Energy and Ventech
Monetising renewable gas with natural gas through GTL
• WM (Fortune 500)
— North America’s leading provider of
comprehensive waste management
services
— Role: renewable gas and certain locations
• NRG (Fortune 500)
— Owns largest independent power generation
portfolio in US
— Role: project development and management
• Ventech
— Global leader in design and construction of
modular refineries
— Role: engineering, fabrication, EPC
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First JV project ‒ Go-ahead received
Adjacent to WM East Oak landfill in Oklahoma City, USA
Site of GTL plant
Existing pilot plant and lab
Landfill
• Final Investment Decision made to proceed (July 2014):
• Upfront engineering complete; key permits received; all major contracts
signed
• Construction begun; ground-breaking by year end; mechanical
completion end of 2015; full operation Q1-Q2 2016
• Will provide first Velocys commercial reference plant
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Pursuing the development of multiple plants
GTLGTL
JV LLC
– First
First
JV LLC
siteplant at East Oak landfill site
• Development activities for additional sites will begin in the near future
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BTL field demonstration - Güssing accomplishments
• FT technology demonstrated in Güssing, Austria
• Demonstration conducted 2010 -2011 on gasified wood
• Demonstrated that the high performance FT helps overcome
some challenges of BTL
— High conversion of expensive
syngas
— Robust to gasifier upsets
– 193 syngas interrupts, 32 upsets and 36 shutdowns
• Steady performance
— Excellent temperature control
— Robust to changes in H2/CO ratio
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GreenSky London
Renewable jet fuel in London
• Velocys selected by Solena Fuels as FT
supplier for commercial 2,500 bpd wastebiomass-to-liquids plant
• GreenSky London plant in partnership with
British Airways
• Competitive selection process after
technology evaluation advised by Fluor
• BA to provide off-take for jet fuel
• Pre-Front End Engineering completed
• Site selection announced April 2014
— Site of former Coryton oil refinery in
Thurrock, Essex, UK
Picture courtesy of British Airways
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Red Rock Biofuels
US DoD sponsored BTL
• Velocys selected for 1,100 bpd
biomass-to-liquids (BTL) plant
— Located in Oregon, USA
— Using forestry waste feedstock
• Supported by US Department of Defense
and US Department of Energy
— Received $4.1m phase 1 grant for
engineering in July 2013
— FEED study complete
— Received a $70m construction grant in
September 2014
• Targeting final investment decision H1 2015
• Southwest Airlines to offtake 3 million gal/yr
of aviation fuel from the plant
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Pilot plant and training facility
Supporting sales and delivery
• Integrated GTL pilot plant at the Velocys
Ohio, USA site
• Designed to provide
— Performance data to support differing
client designs
— Product for client studies
— Permanent training facility for plant
operators
• Platform for
— Developing our own field support staff
— Demonstrating future product
generations
Add pilot plant photo
Pilot plant
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Velocys pilot plant
1,500+ hours of successful operations at client conditions
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Supply chain
Ready for commercial deployment
• Commercial FT reactor manufactured
— Optimized final design for manufacture
at volume
• Catalyst service partner Mourik trained
and certified
— Catalyst loaded in May 2013
— Declared as “fit for commercial
application”
Commercial reactor
• Reactor approved as fit for deployment
by independent third party
• Manufacturing ramping up for mass
production
Catalyst loading
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Summary
Smaller scale GTL & BTL using FT is now a reality
• Fischer-Tropsch process now economic at smaller scales
• Converts low value input into high value liquid fuels & specialties
• Velocys technology is ideally suited to BTL applications as well
as GTL
— Can be built economically at the appropriate scale
— Meets the technical demands
• Velocys technology field demonstrated
• Selected for four commercial projects
• Construction of first commercial GTL plant that will use a
combination of biogas and natural gas has begun
• Supply chain ready for commercial deployment
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Thank you
Jeff McDaniel
Commercial Director
jeff.mcdaniel@velocys.com
Plain City, Ohio office
+1 614 733 3300
Houston office
+1 713 275 5840
www.velocys.com
®
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Think Smaller
Appendix
Technology
High performance reactor architecture
Microchannels intensify chemical processes
Shell-and-tube
Microchannel
~ 25-150 mm
Enhanced
mass and
heat
transfer
~ 0.110 mm
Conventional FT reactor
Velocys FT reactor
26
Super-active FT catalyst
Velocys catalyst is 10x more active than conventional
Catalyst Productivity (kg/m3/hr)
1600
1400
1200
1000
800
600
400
200
0
Fixed Bed
(Shell)
Slurry Bed
(Sasol)
Velocys
27
Exceptional FT catalyst stability
Operated for nearly 2 years without regeneration
CO conversion
Temperature
CH4 selectivity
28
High productivity (single stage with recycle)
>90% overall conversion with minimal recycle
100%
280
Equal to 91-92%
overall conversion
CO conversion
Equal to 94.5%
overall conversion
270
80%
260
70%
250
Regeneration
60%
Loss of
cooling
system
- high t.
50%
40%
240
230
220
Temperature
30%
Temperature, oC
% Conversion, % Selectivity
90%
210
20%
200
Methane selectivity
10%
190
0%
180
0
50
100
150
200
Time on Stream (days)
250
300
350
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Repeatable FT catalyst regeneration
High stability over multiple regenerations (12 shown)
30
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