An Alternative Route for Coal to Liquids:

Methanol-to-Gasoline (MTG) Technology

Max Heinritz-Adrian / Uhde GmbH, Germany

Adrian Brandl / Uhde GmbH, Germany
Max Hooper / Uhde Corporation of America
Xinjin Zhao / EMRE, U.S.A.
Samuel A. Tabak / EMRE, U.S.A.

Presented at the Gasification Technologies Conference

17th October, 2007
Hyatt Regency Hotel, San Francisco, CA
 An Alternative Route for Coal to Liquids:
Methanol-to-Gasoline (MTG) Technology

AGENDA
1. Introduction
2. MTG Principles
3. Fixed-Bed MTG
4. New Zealand Synfuels Plant
5. Coal to Gasoline Concept
6. Fluidized Bed MTG
7. Conclusion
Routes to Synthetic Transportation Fuels: FT, MTG

Natural Gas
Coal
BioMass Fischer Product Primarily
Tropsch Work-up Diesel

SynGas
Generation

Methanol Methanol to Primarily

Steam Synthesis Gasoline (MTG) Gasoline

• Both are 3 Step Process

• Thermal Efficiencies are Essentially Governed by Thermal
Efficiencies of the Syngas Production Process and Feed
 Comparison of Fischer Tropsch with MTG
Low Temp FT* High Temp FT* MTG
Compound Co Catalyst @428F Fe Catalyst@644F
Methane 5 8 0.7
Ethylene 0 4 -
Ethane 1 3 0.4
Propylene 2 11 0.2
Propane 1 2 4.3
Butylenes 2 9 1.1
Butane 1 1 10.9
C5 - 160C 19 36 82.3
Gasoil/Distillate 22 16 -
Heavy Oil/Wax 46 5 -
Oxygenates 1 5 0.1
100 100 100
* Steyberg & Dry, “Fischer Tropsch Technology”, Elsevier, 2004 (All FT yields are prior to refining for gasoline octane ,and diesel pour point improvement)
** Final plant product with gasoline Octane 92 R+O
 MTG Scale-up and Development

• Unique “Shape Selective” chemistry discovered in the early 1970’s

• Major Challenge – Make marketable gasoline

• Development by Mobil (now ExxonMobil) through the 70’s on a variety of

process options
– Pilot operations up to 4 bpd in the US
– Pilot operations up to 100 bpd in Germany (with Uhde): Fluidized-bed MTG
and MTO between 1982-1985

• Decision by New Zealand Government in 1979 to build commercial 14,500bpd

plant in Motunui, NZ. Plant ownership 75% NZ Government/25% ExxonMobil

• Plant started up 1985 and operated successfully for ~10 years till conversion to
chemical grade Methanol production

• Contract for 100,000 mtpa MTG plant for JAM, Shanxi, China awarded to Uhde in
2006 - start-up of the plant expected in late 2008
 MTG Process
Reaction Principle
Shape Selective Dehydration/Condensation of Methanol to Gasoline

Product Production
Per 1000 tonnes MeOH Methanol
Gasoline 387

LPG 46

Fuel gas 7

Water
Water 560

Recycled as process water

Gasoline
 Typical Fixed-Bed MTG Product Quality
• MTG Gasoline is completely compatible with conventional gasoline
infrastructure.
• MTG Gasoline contains zero sulfur and low benzene contents.

2005 2005 MTG US China

Summer Winter Gasoline Regulation Regulation
Oxygen(Wt%) 0.95 1.08
API Gravity 58.4 61.9 61.8
Aromatics(%Vol) 27.7 24.7 26.5 40
Olefins(%Vol) 12 11.6 12.6 35
RVP(psi) 8.3 12.12 9
T50(F) 211.1 199.9 201
T90(F) 330.7 324.1 320

Sulfur(ppm) 106 97 0 30 800 (30)

Benzene(%Vol) 1.21 1.15 0.3 1 (0.62) 2.5 (1)

Date Sources: US Average gasoline data from US EIA website.

New Zealand Synfuel Plant
 New Zealand MTG Unit Gasoline Yield

95

90

85

Expected
Plant
80

75
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
 Coal to Gasoline (CTG) via Fixed-Bed MTG

Fuel Gas Gas Turbine Power

Coal Steam Syst. Steam

Acid Gas Sulfur Sulfur

Gasification CO-Shift
Removal Rec. Unit

Fuel Gas

LPG
Methanol MTG
Synthesis Gasoline
Plant
 Coal to Gasoline (CTG) via Fixed-Bed MTG
Overall Mass Balance - 1,000,000 tpa Gasoline

Gasoline: 3,000 t/d

27,570 bpd

Coal: ~420 t/hr LPG: 288 t/d

(~10% ash) CTG Plant
Sulfur
CO2 (for EOR)
 Fluidized-Bed MTG Plant URBK Wesseling

• JV MRDC, Uhde, URBK. Engineering by MRDC and Uhde

• Capacity 100 bpd gasoline
• Operated 1982/1984
• Heat removal systems :
- Catalysts circulated through an external cooler
- Internal heat exchanger pipes immersed in the dense bed
reactor
• Methanol conversion almost complete
• Gasoline yields reached 92%
Fluidized-Bed MTG Plant URBK Wesseling
Flow Scheme
Fluidized-Bed MTG Plant URBK Wesseling
Main Structure
 Fluidized-Bed MTG Technology
Advantages

− The continuous regeneration permits to hold the catalyst

activity constant at selected conditions
− The heat of reaction is removed efficiently by direct steam
raising
− The lower pressure range reduces the power consumption but
increases the volume of the equipment
− MTO operation mode with downstream oligomerisation (OGD)
allows for co-production of gasoline and diesel
 Methanol-to-Gasoline (MTG) Technology
Conclusions

1. Methanol to Gasoline (MTG) is an effective route for coal to

liquids processing
2. MTG is commercially fully proven and produces high quality
synthetic transportation fuels
3. MTG is simple and robust in design and operation and allows
high plant availabilities
4. MTG is available through license from ExxonMobil (EMRE) -
Uhde co-operates closely as engineering partner with EMRE