Search Results

Reduction of exhaust emissions was investigated in a modern diesel engine equipped with advanced diesel after treatment system using a Gas-to-Liquid (GTL) fuel, a cleaner burning alternative diesel fuel. This fuel has near zero sulfur and aromatics and high cetane number. Some specially prepared GTL fuel samples were used to study the effects of GTL fuel distillation characteristics on exhaust emissions before engine modification. Test results indicated that distillation range of GTL fuels has a significant impact on engine out PM. High cetane number also improved HC and CO emissions, while these fuel properties have little effect on NOx emissions. From these results, it was found that low distillation range and high cetane number GTL fuel can provide a favorable potential in NOx/PM emissions trade-off. In order to improve the tail-pipe emissions in the latest diesel engine system, the engine modifications were carried out for the most favorable GTL fuel sample.

Shell was the first oil marketer to bring to commercial scale, Gas to Liquids (GTL) technology for fuels and base oils production. This started with the commissioning of the multi-purpose GTL facility at Bintulu, Malaysia in 1993. The plant produces both automotive gas oil (GTL Fuel) as well as a number of speciality products including detergent feedstocks, a range of Fisher-Tropsch commercial wax grades, and a feedstock for base oils production. The base oil feedstock has been shipped to Shell facilities in Japan and France since 1994 where it is solvent de-waxed to produce the first commercially available GTL base oils. The GTL Fuel is currently being used in premium diesels in Germany, Greece and Thailand. Shell has announced in 2003 its intention to build two world scale GTL trains in Qatar and this will include substantial fuels and base oils facilities.