Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/357935
20 COMMERCIAL CARRIER JOURNAL | AUGUST 2014 JOURNAL FUEL SAVVY W hat if instead of burning natural gas directly as a fuel, it could be converted to high-energy diesel fuel capable of being dropped in diesel engines already on the road today? That could be a long-term result of gas-to-liquid technology. At Shell's multibillion-dollar Qatar facility, the company takes natural gas and turns it into liquid hydrocarbon that has a variety of uses, including as diesel and as a base stock for heavy-duty lubricants. Three to four different streams of end products come out of the Qatar GTL plant, said Richard Tucker, Shell's global manager of technology, at the company's 2014 Global Media Event last month in Shanghai, China. One of those streams is high-cetane diesel fuel that meets U.S. specifica- tions, Tucker said, though it looks and smells a little different. For starters, it's clear and doesn't really have a smell, but it also only has trace amounts of sulfur and a cetane rating twice that of the standard 40 used in the states today. While GTL burns clean and is qui- eter than diesel, Tucker said its imple- mentation probably is years if not decades off, and even if its use spreads, it may be more suited for severe-duty, construction and local applications rather than long-haul. The growth of Shell's output of the fuel, however, has grown astronomi- cally in the last 20 years. In 1993, the company's GTL plant in Bintulu, Malaysia, produced 14,700 barrels per day; the Qatar facility, built in 2012, produces 140,000 barrels a day. Shell's GTL fuel currently is available only in the Netherlands and Germany as the company figures out some of the logistics of getting the fuel to mar- ket, Tucker said. Also at the Shanghai event, Shell pulled the curtain back on its new research and development facility – the company's third worldwide Global Technology Center dedicated to lubri- cants and oils, joining complementary facilities in Houston and Hamburg, Germany. Chinese sales already make up 20 percent of Shell's global lubricants sales, said James Shen, general man- ager of Shell Lubricants in Hong Kong. "We expect in the near future, China will be the biggest lubricant market in the world, even ahead of the U.S. mar- ket," Shen said. The Qatar and Shanghai facilities are part of the company's more than $1 billion in annual research and develop- ment spending, said Selda Gunsel, the company's vice president of down- stream global commercial technology. They also drive home the point that Shell views itself as much a research and innovation company as an oil marketer, she said. "Our mission is all about technol- ogy leadership," Gunsel said. "[The world] needs a number of solutions to meet the energy challenges of the future. Innovation and collaboration are essential in developing sustainable solutions for the future." – James Jaillet GTL: Trucking's next alternative fuel? [The world] needs a number of solutions to meet the energy challenges of the future. – Selda Gunsel, Shell's vice president of downstream global commercial technology Gas-to-liquid shows promise, but logistical issues remain At Shell's multibillion-dollar Qatar facility, the company takes natural gas and turns it into liquid hydrocarbon that has a variety of uses, including as diesel.