ICIS.com: S Siluria starts ethylene-to-fuel pilot plant: http://www.icis.com/Articles/2014/03/21/9764336/us-siluria-starts-ethylene-to-fuel-pilot-plant.html
HOUSTON (ICIS)--Siluria held on Thursday a grand opening for a pilot plant that uses a unique two-step process that converts methane into gasoline, a technology that could lower the typically high costs of gas-to-liquids production, the CEO said.
Siluria uses a process distinct from the Fischer-Tropsch technology typically associated with producing fuel from methane, said Ed Dineen, CEO. "We do it in a much more direct and efficient way."
Because Siluria's gas-to-liquids technology is so different from Fischer-Tropsch, Dineen estimates that its operating costs will be about $15/bbl, excluding gas.
Capital costs for a Siluria complex should be 25-30% lower than for Fischer-Tropsch, he said.
The company has started building a demonstration plant that will run the oxidative coupling reaction. This plant will be at Braskem's complex in La Porte, Texas. Production could start in the fourth quarter of 2014.
The Hayward plant is the final piece of completing the scale-up of Siluria's technology, Dineen said.
Looking ahead, Siluria is now having discussions about starting feasibility studies with companies in the ethylene and the gas-processing industries.
If those feasibility studies are encouraging, then front-end engineering and design (FEED) could start by the third quarter of this year. The engineering design would overlap with the start-up of the demonstration unit.
By the first half of 2015, capital could be committed for the first commercial-scale plants, he said.
Because Siluria can use modular construction to build its ethylene units, operations could start in two years or less, Dineen said. That could put start startup for ethylene and fuels production in the middle of 2017.
On the surface, it may sound like this is all overly optimistic with the goal of generating tons of investors. If you're doubtful, I would recommend spending five minutes listening to Siluria's CEO, Prof. Angela Belcher talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70BaIBp6hDg
I watched about ten minutes listening to her talk and have to say most of it was pretty mind-bending (she's amazingly bright).