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Workshop Objective
After a period characterized by only few companies and catalyst suppliers willing to commit the large amount of resources necessary to implement GTL commercial plants, we are on the threshold of a new stage in the field of synthetic fuels.
This new stage is characterized by more players, who have entered a field maybe new to them, and covered with many patents, papers and claims. It is therefore expected that the new players (technology developers, users and catalyst suppliers) will spend a significant amount of time and resources towards achieving clarity in the field and to identify the best project directions, suitable to their specific needs.
This workshop is oriented to the identification of the current technical status of the GTL technology. That is, what has been so far achieved, which aspects seen as technical challenges only a decade ago have now been solved, and what remains to be done.
Because the catalyst is one of the most important variables in the GTL technology, some catalyst specific issues to be covered are the current trends in catalyst development and the relationship between the technology developers and the catalyst suppliers.
Since the Fischer-Tropsch reactor plays an important role in the catalyst development, a comparison between fixed and slurry bed reactors will also be covered in the workshop.
In this way, we expect to provide some clarity about the current state of the technology and to contribute towards its successful development and implementation.

• FISCHER-TROPSCH TECHNOLOGY
- Where are we?
- Which parts of the technology are of particular concern to lenders?
- State of the art and new developments.

• BROAD OUTLINE OF THE PRINCIPAL STEPS USING F-T GTL
PROCESSES TO CONVERT NATURAL GAS TO
- Synthetic crudes
- Liquid hydrocarbon fuels
- Waxes
- Lubricants and other products
- Alternative products slates and products qualities of the F-T GTL processes

• TRENDS IN FT TECHNOLOGY USING IRON AND COBALT CATALYSIS : REACTORS AND FEED

• FISCHER-TROPSCH SYNTHESIS IN FIXED BED VS SLURRY BED REACTORS.
IS IT A CLEAR DECISION?

• GTL CATALYSIS - FT CATALYSTS

• ECONOMICS

• GTL CATALYSIS DEVELOPMENTS
- Where are we and what is the current development trend, if any?
- Patent status/issues
- Selection of GTL catalysts – Main variables
- Preparation and characterization of catalysts - From client laboratory scale to the catalyst supplier facilities – What are the present/ expected problems and how could this be improved?
- Role of the catalyst supplier in the catalyst development/improvement

Workshop Leader
Dr Rafael L Espinoza has been involved in the field of GTL for most of his professional life. He was director of Fischer-Tropsch (FT) R&D at ConocoPhillips (2000-2005) and responsible for the technical development of the FT and Hydroprocessing technologies, including catalyst development and preparation scale-up, modeling, process development, reactor technology and products.
At Sasol (1986-2000), he had the positions of Sasol Research Fellow, Manager of Basic Catalysis Research and Sections Leader for high and low temperature FT at the Process Development Dept. Some of the projects in which he was involved include the development of catalysts for Slurry, Fixed and Fluidized bed reactors, development of a Slurry bed reactor for FT (coordinator 1986-1989), commercial plants support, optimization of conceptual designs for new FT plants, optimization of the configuration of the Sasol plant in Sasolburg, etc.
Dr Rafael was also Sr. Chief Research Officer at CSIR in South Africa where he worked on catalyst development in the fields of acid catalysis, supported transition metals and FT.
He has numerous refereed papers and over 35 granted US patents in the GTL field. In 2005 he started his own consulting company & is also a consultant for Syntroleum.

Dr Rafael will be assisted by Jeff Braden
Jeff Braden is currently Director of Sales & Marketing , Süd Chemie’s Refinery Catalysts (which includes GTL/CTL products) in the Americas. During his 23 year career with Sud-Chemie, held a variety of positions including: R &D Chemist and group leader, Manufacturing Process Control Manager, Product Development Manager, and Production Manager. Jeff has participated in several successful developmental and scale-up projects relating to GTL/CTL.