Sasol, GE Develop New Water Technology, Boosting Gas-to-Liquids (GTL) Value Proposition
Sasol, GE Develop New Water Technology, Boosting Gas-to-Liquids (GTL) Value Proposition
AsiaNet 54918
SASOLBURG, South Africa, Nov. 6, 2013 /PRN=KYODO JBN/ --
Sasol and General Electric (NYSE: GE)'s GE Power & Water have together
developed new water technology that will clean waste water, while also
providing biogas as a by-product for power generation. This new technology,
known as Anaerobic Membrane Bioreactor Technology (AnMBR), will be further
developed at a new demonstration plant at Sasol's R&D Campus at its Sasol One
Site in Sasolburg.
"This is another exciting technological innovation that will further
entrench our position as a world-leader in gas-to-liquids (GTL) technology and
synthetic fuels production. While sophisticated water treatment technologies
are already employed at Sasol's major operations, this particular development
will enhance our efficiency even further," said Ernst Obersholster, Sasol Group
Executive for International Energy, New Business Development and Technology.
"GE is excited to be partnering with Sasol on this initiative that further
outlines our commitment to supporting the sustainable development of South
Africa with advanced infrastructure technologies, services and solutions. This
partnership demonstrates what the private sector can achieve by working
together for the benefit of growing the economy and making the economy
competitive," said Tim Schweikert President and CEO for GE South Africa.
AnMBR involves anaerobic micro-organisms that are able to live in
environments devoid of oxygen, such as sediment layers on floors of lakes, dams
and the ocean. These organisms are almost ubiquitous - found in the human
digestive system, under the earth surface, deserts and mountain peaks, to name
a few.
Sasol currently uses aerobic microbes to treat GTL and coal-to-liquids
(CTL) effluents in ORYX GTL, Qatar and Synfuels, Secunda facilities.
One of the by-products from the Fischer-Tropsch (FT) process is an effluent
stream rich in organic acids and alcohols. Traditional (aerobic) treatment
technologies treat this effluent by converting the organics to carbon dioxide.
The benefit of the AnMBR is that the micro-organisms convert these organics
into a methane rich bio-gas which can then be used for power generation. This
then results in an overall efficiency improvement in the GTL process. By
converting the effluents to a valuable product (power) there is a resulting
improvement in the GTL value proposition. Another benefit of the AnMBR is that
it produces almost 80% less waste biosolids than the previous generation
process.
The treatment of GTL derived effluents is complex and challenging. Sasol
pioneered the treatment of effluents from the GTL process in Ras Laffan, Qatar,
where effluents are treated and recycled for use as irrigation water in the
city of Ras Laffan.
Sasol's second generation offering, which is currently being designed for
the US GTL facility, is the aerobic Membrane Bioreactor (MBR). The AnMBR helps
maintain Sasol's leadership position in this field by converting wastes into
value-adding products.
Micro-organisms break down complex organics, such as proteins and
carbohydrates through a process called hydrolysis, to simpler building blocks,
such as sugars that provide food to the micro-organisms. The waste produced is
bio-gas, which can be used as feedstock to generate power.
"The organics in waste water generated from our operations have proven to
be the ideal food, or substrate, for Anaerobic micro-organisms," said Thulani
Dlamini, Executive Manager Research and Development at Sasol Technology. "We
will now continue to explore and develop this technology further with the
potential for commercial application to our future GTL facilities."
Sasol has been developing the technology for a number of years with
promising results. The partnership with GE is aimed at leveraging GE's
ecomagination qualified ZeeWeed 500 membrane and decades of membrane bioreactor
experience and Sasol's expertise in biological treatment of FT derived
effluents.
"The new AnMBR is one of the many solutions that can be developed in the
Petrochemical and Refining environment to benefit all other industries," says
Daniele Scenarelli, GE Account Executive for Sasol. "This strategic
partnership, which was signed in 2010, symbolizes a new way of doing business
between Customers and Suppliers. It is a collaborative approach and a mutual
commitment to technology development and innovation aimed to accelerate the
commercialization of this new technology."
Bench scale test work has been on-going for the past year with promising
results and with the construction of a pilot plant at Sasol's R&D facilities
this improves the potential for commercialization of this technology.
It is anticipated that the technology will be commercially ready early in
2015. Sasol will have exclusive rights to apply this technology to FT based
plants whilst GE will have the right to market the technology for other
industrial uses.
About Sasol:
Committed to excellence in all we do, Sasol is an international integrated
energy and chemical company that leverages the talent and expertise of our more
than 35 000 people working in 37 countries. We develop and commercialise
technologies, and build and operate world-scale facilities to produce a range
of product streams, including liquid fuels, high-value chemicals and low-carbon
electricity.
While remaining committed to our home-base of South Africa, Sasol is
expanding internationally based on a unique value proposition.
About GE Power & Water GE Power & Water provides customers with a broad
array of power generation, energy delivery and water process technologies to
solve their challenges locally. Power & Water works in all areas of the energy
industry including renewable resources such as wind and solar; biogas and
alternative fuels; and coal, oil, natural gas and nuclear energy. The business
also develops advanced technologies to help solve the world's most complex
challenges related to water availability and quality. Power & Water's six
business units include Distributed Power, Nuclear Energy, Power Generation
Products, Power Generation Services, Renewable Energy and Water & Process
Technologies. Headquartered in Schenectady, N.Y., Power & Water is GE's largest
industrial business.
About GE:
GE is an advanced technology, services and capital company with the scale,
resources and expertise to take on the world's toughest challenges. Dedicated
to innovation in the areas of energy, health, transportation and
infrastructure, GE is committed to leadership, partnership and human progress.
GE has more than 300 000 employees globally, of which over 1 500 are in
Sub-Saharan Africa. GE is committed to growing its Africa leadership base by
investing in young leaders.
Forward-looking statements: Sasol may, in this document, make certain
statements that are not historical facts and relate to analyses and other
information which are based on forecasts of future results and estimates of
amounts not yet determinable. These statements may also relate to our future
prospects, developments and business strategies. Examples of such
forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements
regarding exchange rate fluctuations, volume growth, increases in market share,
total shareholder return and cost reductions. Words such as "believe",
"anticipate", "expect", "intend", "seek", "will", "plan", "could", "may",
"endeavour" and "project" and similar expressions are intended to identify such
forward-looking statements, but are not the exclusive means of identifying such
statements. By their very nature, forward-looking statements involve inherent
risks and uncertainties, both general and specific, and there are risks that
the predictions, forecasts, projections and other forward-looking statements
will not be achieved. If one or more of these risks materialise, or should
underlying assumptions prove incorrect, our actual results may differ
materially from those anticipated. You should understand that a number of
important factors could cause actual results to differ materially from the
plans, objectives, expectations, estimates and intentions expressed in such
forward-looking statements. These factors are discussed more fully in our most
recent annual report under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 on Form 20-F
filed on 9 October 2013 and in other filings with the United States Securities
and Exchange Commission. The list of factors discussed therein is not
exhaustive; when relying on forward-looking statements to make investment
decisions, you should carefully consider both these factors and other
uncertainties and events. Forward-looking statements apply only as of the date
on which they are made, and we do not undertake any obligation to update or
revise any of them, whether as a result of new information, future events or
otherwise.
Contacts
For Sasol:
Alex Anderson, Group Media Manager
Direct telephone +27(11)441-3295; Mobile +27(0)71-600-9605;
alex.anderson@sasol.com
Jacqui O'Sullivan, GM: Group Communication
Direct telephone +27(11)441-3252; Mobile +27(0)82-883-9697;
jacqui.osullivan@sasol.com
For GE:
Thulisile Phiri
Communications Manager - Southern Africa
GE Corporate Africa
Tel: +27-11-237-0019
M: +27-79-885-0530
thulisile.phiri@ge.com
Follow GE Power & Water and GE's water business on Twitter @GE_PowerWater
and @GE_Water
Source: Sasol and General Electric
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