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

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"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

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    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