History, Current Status, and Perspectives of Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis

3 History, Current Status, and Perspectives of Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis 

From the end of WWII until the 1990, South Africa was the only producer of liquid fuels from coal (and also from natural gas), and only plants based on Fischer-Tropsch were and are used. Today, FT plants provide one-third of South Africa s liquid fuel requirement. 

With regard to FTS, this situation has changed significantly in recent years (Table 6.11.1). Several companies have developed their own gas-to-liquid (GTL) FTS technology. In 1992, the first commercial FT plant based on natural gas went on stream at Mossel Bay in South Africa. In 1993, Shell started up a FT GTL plant in Malaysia for the production of diesel fuel and other specialty products and, recently, huge FTS plants have started operation in Qatar. 

There are also several commercial GTL projects at various stages of planning and development, initiated by companies operating in gas-rich countries such as Qatar, Iran, Russia, Nigeria, Australia, and Algeria (Table 6.11.1). Nevertheless, even the 

Company Location startup (and shut-down) Capacity (in lO ta ) (oii equivalent) Feedstock 

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