GRT Technology

GRT Technology

To maximize the opportunity that natural gas and biomethane represent, GRT has developed a fundamentally simpler and more direct GTL technology, well suited to a wide range of natural gas field sizes and potential biomethane sources.

The GRT Technology offers a direct approach to natural gas conversion that eliminates the need to make synthesis gas.

The GRT technology consists of the following three steps:

  1. Activation: Natural gas or biomethane is “activated” by reaction with bromine (Br2) under relatively mild conditions to form methyl bromide and hydrogen bromide (HBr). Whereas methane is quite stable, methyl bromide is a highly active intermediate that can be readily transformed into an array of products.
  2. Conversion: Methyl bromide produced in Step 1 is reacted with a GRT catalyst to form the desired products and additional HBr. Through careful selection of the catalyst and the reaction conditions, the product distribution can be controlled.
  3. Regeneration: HBr produced in both Steps 1 and 2 is captured and converted to bromine for reuse in Step 1 of the process.

The major advantages of the GRT conversion technology are:

  • The chemical pathway to products is direct without excessive oxidation.
  • The process catalysts are insensitive to common gas contaminants.
  • The product distribution can be tailored to the market by selecting the appropriate GRT catalysts.
  • The hydrocarbon products obtained from the process are the same as those found in conventional gasoline and diesel fuels and thus compatible with existing engines distribution systems.
  • The process can be implemented cost effectively at scales far smaller than existing technologies (such as Fischer-Tropsch).

At the core of GRT’s technology is the establishment and control of optimum reaction conditions combined with the design, composition and form of the catalysts and metal oxides that selectively allow the reactions to proceed to the desired products while restricting byproduct formation.

The GRT Technology can be used to produce hydrocarbon fuels as well as several classes of commodity petrochemicals, including alcohols, ethers, olefins, epoxides, and fuel molecules.

GRT uses bromine (a member of the halogen family) as a methane-activating agent, rather than the far more common chlorine (another member of the halogen family) because bromine: (1) reacts with methane in a controllable fashion, (2) offers safety advantages over chlorine, and (3) is produced from HBr under milder conditions than would be required to produce chlorine from HCl.

GRT has developed three different methods for recovering hydrogen bromide and regenerating bromine, with the optimum method contingent upon the capacity and local environment of the facility.

  • Process Option I: Bromine is regenerated by reacting hydrogen bromide with air over a catalyst.
  • Process Option II: Bromine is regenerated by reacting hydrogen bromide with a solid metal oxide (e.g. NiO), producing steam and solid metal bromide (e.g. NiBr2), and then regenerating both bromine and the solid metal oxide by reacting the metal bromide with air.
  • Process Option III: Bromine is regenerated by through the electrolysis of hydrogen bromide using low cost or renewable electricity from solar or wind sources.