North Haven, CT (January 23rd, 2019) – Precision Combustion, Inc. (PCI) announced it has been awarded Department of Energy (DOE) Phase I Small Business Innovation Research funding to develop a catalytic process that selectively converts C2-C4’s to corresponding olefins while minimizing factors responsible for reduced product yields. This new gas to fuels process offers environmental and economic benefits while utilizing abundant domestic natural gas resources, resulting in a lower cost and reduced energy process compatible with projects from small scale to very large scale, as a direct replacement to state-of-the art energy-intensive steam cracking.
PCI’s approach of the direct conversion of C2-C4’s to olefins and fuels is an alternative to large energy intensive indirect paths such as synthesis gas formation followed by the Fisher-Tropsch or methanol synthesis. Ethylene and other olefins are valuable products for use in polyethylene production and as a primary component of some fuels. Oligomerization of ethylene can produce gasoline or diesel range olefins. These high-carbon-range olefins can also be converted to paraffins via catalytic hydrogenation processes, leading to constituents needed for energy-dense fuels. However, despite over 30 years of research, a viable process has not yet been commercialized due to ethylene yields of less than 40 %.
PCI’s simpler and less costly path from ethane to ethylene, and onward to liquid fuels and chemicals, involves a fundamentally new approach to enable sufficiently high yields of ethylene. Our process allows for the economic production of a wide range of hydrocarbon products using existing ethylene processing technologies, including the established olefin to gasoline process.
According to Dr. Weissman, PCI’s Principal Investigator for the project, “Our innovation combines a novel catalyst used in a unique reactor configuration operating in a breakthrough process with alkane activation to form ethylene as a first step toward new reactor capabilities.”
In the Phase I program, key aspects to be investigated are – choice of catalyst, process operating conditions, characteristics of the reactor, and other factors impacting yields, and improvements to the novel process allowed by our reactor.
Precision Combustion, Inc. is a clean energy technology company developing and manufacturing catalytic devices and systems for energy sector applications. To learn more, visit www.precision-combustion.com.
For more information, contact:
Anthony Anderson
Director, Marketing and Business Development
Phone: 203-287-3700 ext. 290
Email: aanderson@Precision-Combustion.com
