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GTL Economics SPE-94380-MS
GTL Economics SPE-94380-MS
H2OÆ CO + 3H2) but the actual H2/CO ratio is 5.0 (75% H2, Product Upgrading. The raw products are further treated to
15% CO & 20% CO2). (1) maximize their sales value or to meet particular market needs.
In the POX, natural gas and oxygen are directly reacted The treatment may entail: thermal or hydro cracking of the
without a catalyst. The POX produces a Syngas having an waxes to produce only naphtha and diesel; vacuum separation
H2/CO ratio much lower than 2.0 and is thereby not ideally of the waxes into distinct, high specialty products; distillation
suited for producing liquid fuels. It operates at an exist of the combined naphtha/diesel stream into multiple
temperature of about 1400oC. (5) The theoretical H2/CO ratio is separation products including mineral spirits, white oils,
2.0 (2CH4+O2Æ 2CO + 4H2) but the actual H2/CO ratio is 1.8 kerosene, and jet fuels.
(62% H2, 35% CO & 3% CO2). (1) Some of the companies involved in the development and
In the ATR, natural gas, steam, and oxygen at 1200 – licensing of GTL process technology include: Rentech Inc.,
1500oC (with an exit temperature of about 800 – 1000oC) pass Shell, Exxon, Sasol Ltd., Syntroleum Corporation, British
over a bed of nickel in the reaction vessel. The combustion Petroleum/Davy Process Technology, Conoco, and Reema
reaction is rapid and exothermic and, therefore, auto-thermal. International.
Since the ATR results in an H2/CO ratio of about 2.0, the Table 2 provides a summary of the competing
process is best suited for the production of Synfuels. To technologies utilized by five companies.
provide oxygen, an air separation plant or other special
provision may be required to resolve nitrogen-related Economics of GTL Plants
problems. The theoretical H2/CO ratio is 2.3 Capital Expenditures. The capital expenditures (“CAPEX”)
(3CH4+H2O+O2Æ 3CO + 7H2) but the actual H2/CO ratio is of GTL Plants are estimated to be 20,000 to 40,000 U.S.
2.0 (64% H2, 32% CO & 4% CO2). (1) Dollars per bbl of liquid produced per day or USD/BLPD.
Table 1 provides a summary of the advantages and The CAPEX depends on many factors including: type of
disadvantages of the various Syngas generators. (2,4) technology utilized, geographical location of the facility,
products work-up/slate, economies of scale, learning curve
F-T Synthesis. The conversion of Syngas into Synfuel is cost improvement, and local infrastructure availability.
based on F-T catalytic synthesis, which, ideally, calls for an Distribution of capital expenditures among the three GTL
H2/CO ratio of about 2.0. The reaction is strongly exothermic processes is estimated as follows: 60% for Syngas generation,
and thereby significant heat must be removed. It may be 30% for F-T Synthesis, and 10% for product upgrading.
represented by the following reaction. (1) Oxygen generation is a significant portion of Syngas
nCO + 2nH2Æ n (-CH2-) + nH2O generation and thereby CAPEX and is important to explore for
There are three basic types of reactors: the tubular fixed- purposes of cost reduction. Geographic location of the
bed, the fluidized-bed, and the slurry bubble. proposed facility also weighs heavily on CAPEX. Table 3
In the tubular fixed-bed reactor, also called the Arge-type provides Construction Cost Indices (CCI) for LNG plants in
reactor, Syngas flows downward through vertical tubes packed many international locations using the onshore U.S Gulf Coast
with catalyst. The heat of reaction produces steam via as a basis, i.e., onshore U.S Gulf coast CCI = 1.00. GTL
removal through the tubes’ walls. Iron, which is relatively plants are generally assumed to follow CCI trends similar to
cheap and works well with a wide range of Syngas those for LNG plants.
compositions, is one of the first catalysts used and produces Economies of scale relate CAPEX to plant capacity and
light hydrocarbons. Cobalt, which is more expensive and may be expressed as follows:
must be supported on an inert material such as alumina or
silica, produces a heavier, waxier hydrocarbon that requires Cost Ratio = (Capacity Ratio) Y
less eventual upgrading. Cost = Base Cost * (Capacity/ Base Capacity) Y
In the fluidized-bed reactor, the Syngas is blown upwards = Constant * (Capacity) Y
through solid catalyst particles causing the particles to become
fluidized. The heat of reaction produces steam via cooling Wherein Y reflects the degree to which a particular
coils. process facility benefits from economies of scale. A value of
In the slurry-bubble reactor, Syngas is bubbled through 1.0 implies the facility does not benefit from economies of
slurry of liquid wax and dispersed catalyst, typically cobalt. scale. For example, the construction of parallel trains (instead
Heat is also removed from the slurry via cooling coils to of larger trains) would yield Y values approaching 1.0. Y
produce steam. The effluent products are sent to a condenser values for refining and petrochemical plants are typically 0.5
for the recycling of unconverted Syngas. to 0.8. The Y value for GTL plants is estimated at 0.66 as
reflected by the following estimates:
Product work-up governs the design basis and, therefore, Mark-up rate per Bbl of GTL product = Sale
the cost of a plant. For example, a plant designed for the price of one Bbl of GTL Product
production of distillates (about 80% diesel and 20% naphtha) - Cost of feed stock required to produce one
is less costly than one designed for the production of specialty Bbl of GTL product
waxes. The following assumptions/parameters are also used in the
Cost Improvement (i.e., the reduction in a product unit’s analysis:
cost as the industry-wide cumulative production increases) is 25 years for plant life
affected, in large part, by a learning curve that leads to 3 years for plant construction
technical innovations to reduce production costs. The rate of 20,000, 25,000, 30,000, 35,000, and 40,000 USD/BLPD
cost improvement can be described mathematically as follows: for CAPEX, equally-divided over the 3-year construction
Cn = C1(N) B period
where Cn = Cost of the nth (Last) unit 5, 6, and 7% of CAPEX for annual OPEX
C1 = Cost of first unit 100% for owner’s equity
N = number of the unit being cost estimated or 0% for rate of inflation
cumulative production 91.5% for on- stream factor
B = Learning Curve exponent 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 years for pay-out periods
= -0.4383 for the organic chemical 10, 15, and 20% for ROR with mid-year compounding,
production industry and
Thus, each time cumulative production capacity doubles, 60% for overall thermal efficiency
i.e., N equals 2.0, the cost improvement rate is about 0.738 or The assumption that overall thermal efficiency is 60%
73.8%. In other words, it costs 26.2% less to produce implies 10 Mscf of 1000 Btu/scf gas are required to produce 1
products than prior to the doubling of the cumulative Bbl of GTL products. The parameters used for the base case
production capacity. are 30,000 USD/BLPD for CAPEX, 6% of CAPEX for annual
E.P. Robertson cited several references which estimated OPEX, pay-out time of 6 years, and ROR of 15%. For the
the capital expenditures, of generic GTL plants to be in the Base Case, mark-up is 20.36 USD/BLPD at a pay out time of
range of 12,000 – 35,000 USD per daily barrel of liquid 6 years, and 21.47 USD/BLPD at an ROR of 15%.
(USD/BLPD). (5) He has elected to use a capital cost for the The following rate of return to un-discounted pay-out time
U.S. Gulf coast of 24,000 USD/BLPD, i.e. equal to the capital equivalencies can be deduced from Tables 4 and 5:
cost for Exxon’s 50,000 BLPD Qatar project. Vosloo also 1. ROR of 10% is equivalent to a POT of about 8 years,
cited a capital expenditure of 24,000 USD/BLPD. (6) 2. ROR of 15% is equivalent to a POT of about 6 years,
The CAPEX’s used in this analysis will be 20,000 to and
40,000 USD/BLPD evaluated in 5000 USD/BLPD increments, 3. ROR of 20% is equivalent to a POT of about 4 years.
i.e., CAPEX’s to be analyzed are 20,000, 25,000, 30,000, For a 4-year construction period, the mark-up rates as a
35,000, and 40,000 USD/BLPD. function of un-discounted POT are unchanged and thereby
exactly as shown in Table 4. The mark-up rates as a function
Annual Operating Expenditures. The non-feed stock annual of rates of return, however, are higher than those shown in
operating expenditures (“OPEX”) for large projects have been Table 5. Table 6 presents the incremental increase in mark-up
estimated at 5 to 7% of CAPEX. Accordingly, factors of 5%, rates due to the one-year increase in the construction period.
6%, and 7% are used to estimate annual OPEX for GTL The increase in mark-up rates amounts to 3.45%, 5.9%, and
plants. These expenditures, amounting to 3.03 – 8.48 USD per 8.5% at discount rates of 10%, 15%, and 20%, respectively.
barrel of liquid produced, include operation and maintenance
of facilities, overhead costs, environmental compliance, GTL Product Value
payroll, etceteras. They do not, however, include feedstock The wholesale prices of gasoline and No. 2 fuel oil average
cost. This range of operating expenditures, encompasses other about 8 USD/Bbl and 6 USD/Bbl higher than crude oil,
estimates of 4.00 – 5.50 USD/ BbL. (1,5,6) respectively. In addition, GTL products are more valuable
than those derived from crude oil due to their higher quality.
Net Cash Flow Analysis of GTL Plants GTL products are ideally suited to meet low-emission
The two measures used to assess the economic viability and regulations for diesel. This superiority equates to more than a
profitability of GTL plants are pay-out time (“POT”) and rate 2 USD/Bbl premium over oil-derived distillates. Overall, the
of return (“ROR”). The un-discounted POT is the time premium for GTL products over crude oil is about 10
required in years, as of the start-up date of the plant, to pay USD/Bbl or more.
back the un-discounted initial investment, before income tax. For a GTL plant with an overall thermal efficiency of
The ROR is the discount rate at which the net present value 60%, ten Mscf of 1000 Btu/scf natural gas is required to
(“NPV”) is equal to zero. Un-discounted POT’s of 4, 5, 6, 7, produce 1 barrel of GTL products. Thus, to ensure GTL plant
and 8 years, and ROR’s of 10 %, 15%, and 20 % are used in profitability, the minimum or break-even crude oil price in
this analysis. To assess the profitability of GTL plants, a USD/Bbl is
simple mathematical approach utilizing the concept of profit = (Mark-up rate – 10) +
mark-up, profit margin, or tariff rate per barrel of GTL (10)*(Natural Gas price, USD/Mscf)
products, is introduced. The mark-up rate is defined as
follows.
4 SPE 94380
Thus, for the Base Case, range, at least, between 10.48 and 38.32 USD/Bbl for pay-out
Crude oil price, USD/Bbl ≥ (20.47 – 10) + times of 8 to 4 years, and between 10.27 and 37.76 USD/Bbl
(10)*(Natural Gas price, USD/MMBtu) for rates of return of 10 to 20%. Stranded natural gas,
≥ (11.47) + (10)*(Natural Gas price, especially associated gas in regions with a zero flare policy, is
USD/MMBtu) an ideal feed stock for GTL plants. With current crude oil
prices over 40 USD/Bbl (first quarter 2005), GTL plants are a
Accordingly, for a natural gas price of 1.00 USD/Mscf viable alternative to crude oil derived fuels.
(i.e., 1.00 USD/MMBtu), the minimum or break-even price of
crude oil for the base case must equal or exceed 21.47 References
USD/Bbl for the GTL plant to be profitable. Table 7 1. Gaffney, Cline & Associates, “ Potential of and future
summarizes the minimum crude oil prices needed for GTL prospects for a Gas-to-liquid (GTL)
plant profitability at a natural gas price of 1.00 USD/MMBtu. Industry in Australia “, Report submitted to the
It should be noted that all tabulated values are identical to commonwealth Department of Industry, Science and
those in Table 5. Thus, for the worst-case scenario (40,000 Resources (DISR), Australia, 2001.
USD/Bbl for CAPEX, 7% for OPEX, and 20% for ROR), the 2. Doshi, M.,” Conversion of Natural Gas to Liquids using
minimum crude oil price is 37.76 USD/ Bbl. A detailed NCF GTL Technology: Process Comparisons and Process
analysis for the Base Case (with 1.00 USD/MMBtu) is shown Economics”, A Graduate Research Project, Texas A&M
in Table 8 to illustrate the reliability of the simplified University-Kingsville (August 2002).
approaches utilized in Tables 4 and 5. 3.Blutke, A.S., Bohn, E.M., and Vavruska, J.S., “ Plasma
Technology For Syngas Production For Offshore GTL plants”,
Conclusions managing associated offshore natural Gas (April 28-30,1999).
The economic viability of converting natural gas to liquids 4.Wilhelm, D.J., Simbeck, D.R., Karp, A.D., and Dickerson,
depends on four major factors, namely, capital expenditures, R.L., “ Syngas production for Gas-to-Liquids Applications:
operating expenditures, natural gas (feed stock) prices, and Technologies, Issues and Outlook”, Fuel Processing
crude oil prices. The mark-up rate, i.e., the mark-up required Technology 71 (2001) 139-148.
to cover both capital and operating expenses, ranges between 5.Robertson, E.P.,” Options for Gas-to-Liquids Technology in
10.48 and 38.32 USD/BLPD for pay-out times of 8 to 4 years Alaska”, Prepared for the U.S. Department of Energy,
and between 10.27 and 37.76 USD/BLPD for rates of return of INEEL/EXT-99-01023 (December 1999).
10 to 20%. 6. Vosloo, A.C.,”Fischer-Tropsch: a Futuristic View”, Fuel
Low natural gas prices coupled with high crude oil prices Processing Technology 71 (2001) 149-155.
will ensure the economic viability of GTL plants. For a
natural gas price of 1.00 USD/MMBtu, crude oil prices must
Trinidad/Venezuela 1.10
Algeria/Eastern Offshore
Canada/ Egypt/ 1.20
Western South America
CAPEX, USD/BLPD
Pay-
20,000 25,000 30,000 35,000 40,000
Out
Time,
Years Annual OPEX, % Of CAPEX
5% 6% 7% 5% 6% 7% 5% 6% 7% 5% 6% 7% 5% 6% 7%
4 17.96 18.56 19.16 22.46 23.2 23.95 26.95 27.84 27.74 31.44 32.49 33.53 35.93 37.13 38.32
5 14.97 15.57 16.17 18.71 19.46 20.21 22.46 23.35 24.25 26.2 27.25 28.29 29.94 31.14 32.34
6 12.97 13.57 14.17 16.22 16.97 17.71 19.46 20.36 21.26 22.7 23.75 24.8 25.95 27.15 28.34
7 11.55 12.15 12.75 14.44 15.18 15.93 17.32 18.22 19.12 20.21 21.26 22.31 23.1 24.29 25.49
8 10.48 11.08 11.68 13.1 13.85 14.6 15.72 16.62 17.51 18.34 19.39 20.43 23.35 23.35 23.35
% 5 6 7 5 6 7 5 6 7 5 6 7 5 6 7
10 10.27 10.87 11.47 12.84 13.59 14.34 15.41 16.31 17.21 17.98 19.03 20.08 20.55 21.75 22.95
15 13.71 14.31 14.91 17.14 17.89 18.64 20.57 21.47 22.37 24 25.05 26.1 27.43 28.63 29.83
20 17.67 18.27 18.87 22.1 22.85 23.6 26.52 27.42 28.32 30.94 31.99 33.04 35.36 36.56 37.76
CAPEX, USD/BLPD
% 5 6 7 5 6 7 5 6 7 5 6 7 5 6 7
10 10.27 10.87 11.47 12.84 13.59 14.34 15.41 16.31 17.21 17.98 19.03 20.08 20.55 21.75 22.95
15 13.71 14.31 14.91 17.14 17.89 18.64 20.57 21.47 22.37 24 25.05 26.1 27.43 28.63 29.83
20 17.67 18.27 18.87 22.1 22.85 23.6 26.52 27.42 28.32 30.94 31.99 33.04 35.36 36.56 37.76
8 SPE 94380