Why Diesel will be around when all gasoline is out

[conan]

A new type of diesel – and it’s not made from crude oil

The first cars in the world to run on a revolutionary new diesel have been unveiled. The pair of Mercedes M-Class SUVs are powered by GTL. It stands for Gas-To-Liquid and is refined from natural gas, not crude oil. It’s not big news yet, but GTL is going to be hugely important to drivers for one reason. While the planet’s reserves of the black stuff are running low, there are trillions and trillions of square feet of natural gas just waiting to be exploited.

Shell is already blending GTL into its V-Power premium diesel, though it doesn’t publicise the fact. Now cars that operate on a neat version have taken to the road in South Africa. They’ve been developed by local petro-chemical firm Sasol in partnership with US fuel giant Chevron, and have gone into service with the De Wildt Cheetah Trust, a wildlife conservation charity near Pretoria.

So what are the benefits of GTL?

GTL has a much higher cetane rating than regular diesel. Cetane is diesel’s equivalent of the octane in petrol, and means combustion in the cylinder is more efficient. Regular diesel is usually rated at about 51, a premium diesel such as BP Ultimate is 55, but GTL is 70 or higher. Better combustion means the engine block doesn’t need to be so bulky because the compression ratios can be lower. And that means less kerb weight, so higher mpg for drivers.

GTL engines also runs quieter, with the traditional clatter of the diesel engine virtually eliminated. Emissions are cleaner, too. The only downside is a 5 percent cut in fuel economy compared with a regular diesel car.

The reason we’re not all running round in cars powered by neat GTL now is that the technology is too new. Sasol Chevron recently opened its first dedicated GTL plant in Qatar in the Middle East, and another one in Nigeria is under construction. Sasol Chevron’s rivals are on the case, though. As well as Shell, BP and Exxon are both working on GTL.

So when can I buy a production car running on neat GTL?

Mark Schnell is Sasol Chevron’s general manager for global marketing, and admitted it will be at least a decade before anyone is buying neat GTL on a filling station forecourt. 'The initial use is as a blending agent. It will help upgrade the quality of some of the diesel that’s traditionally not been able to be used because it’s too low quality. That will start to happen this year,' he said.

GTL will then be used to upgrade diesel from regular to premium, then a neat version will be used in niche applications, such as buses or local authority vehicles. 'That will happen in the next two to three years and probably in Europe and the UK,' said Schnell.

[Turboman]

FT Syn Diesel fuel merupakan bahan bakar solar yang bukan dihasilkan oleh minyak bumi, tetapi menggunakan bahan baku gas alam / batubara / gasifikasi biomassa (sampah), mengunakan proses Fischer Tropsch, dinamakan FT Syn Diesel Fuel.

FT Syn Diesel Fuel sangat superior dibanding bahan bakar solar yg ada
selama ini, dimana FT Syn diesel fuel memiliki cetane number sgt
tinggi yaitu antara 70 - 79 (bandingkan solar biasa yg di bawah 50,
biodiesel yang 55 - 59), serta kadar sulfur yg nyaris 0 spt biodiesel.

Juga specific gravity / Density FT Syn diesel fuel yg mirip gasoline
yaitu 0,76 - 0,79 sehingga membuat kerja pompa injeksi lebih ringan
dan tidak akan membuat nozzle / injector mampet, serta mudah
dioperasikan di daerah dingin.

http://www.sasolchevron.com/gtl_fuel_comparison.htm


Dengan cetane number yg sgt tinggi, akan membuat kinerja mesin diesel
menjadi lebih baik lagi, suara mesin akan semakin halus akibat
pembakaran yg lebih sempurna, mesin akan semakin responsive, serta
emisi yang sangat rendah, terutama emisi Particulate yg selama ini
menjadi momok bagi mesin diesel.

Bahan bakar solar yg terbuat dari campuran antara Petro diesel dan FT
Syn diesel fuel sudah dipasarkan oleh Shell di Thailand, dinamakan
"Shell Pura Diesel" dengan harga hanya 10% lebih mahal dari solar LSD :

http://www.shell.com/home/Framework?sit ... _1113.html


Saat ini sudah dioperasikan kilang kilang GTL (Gas to Liquid) di
berbagai negara seperti Afrika Selatan - Sasol, Amerika Serikat -
Syntroleum, Bintulu - Malaysia - Shell,

Dan juga sedang dibangun kilang kilang GTL yg baru spt Qatar - Shell,
Nigeria – Marathon / Sasol Chevron, Australia – Sasol Chevron.


Shell Pura Diesel menggunakan FT Syn diesel fuel dari kilang Bintulu
yang menghasilkan 14.700 barrel per hari.

Sedangkan kilang GTL "super kingkong" di Qatar akan beroperasi
pada tahun 2011 dengan kapasitas 300.000 bph !!!

http://www.oryxgtl.com/english/Company_ ... index.html


Belum lagi kilang Coal to Liquid skala "kingkong" di China :

http://www.greencarcongress.com/2006/06 ... oup_h.html


Konon Syntroleum,salah satu perusahaan pembuat Fischer Tropsch Syntethic Fuel terkemuka di dunia sudah menandatangani MOU dgn PT Elnusa untuk membuat Gas to Liquids project di Indonesia

http://www.greencarcongress.com/2005/11 ... .html#more


Maka di tahun tahun mendatang kita akan semakin banyak melihat bahan
bakar solar non minyak bumi spt biodiesel dan FT Syn diesel fuel ini.


Dan dengan angka Cetane number yg tinggi, sulfur yg amat sgt rendah /
nyaris 0, maka performa mesin2 diesel di masa datang akan semakin baik / semakin mendekati mesin bensin high performance, dengan emisi gas buang jauhhhhh lebih rendah daripada gasoline engines (kecuali NOx,
tetapi dapat diberantas dng NOx catalyst).

Selain FT Syn Diesel Fuel, proses GTL juga menghasilkan bahan baku
pelumas dengan VI sgt tinggi (XHVI) karena proses GTL menghasilkan
unsur Paraffin yg sgt besar.


So Indonesia dengan cadangan gas alam diperkirakan sekitar 170 - 190
Trillion Cubic Feet (TCF) dan juga cadangan gas yg terikat pada
batubara alias Coal Bed Methane yang diperkirakan sekitar 400 TCF
lebih , maka Indonesia sangat sangat berpotensi menjadi produsen bahan
bakar diesel yang amat sangat besar, belum lagi potensi biodiesel
jarak dr 13 juta hektar lahan kritis.

Bila semua dimanfaatkan dengan optimal maka kita nggak perlu
mengimport bahan bakar solar dari luar negeri, bahkan kita bisa
kembali menjadi nett exporter utk FT Syn diesel fuel serta bahan baku
pelumas dengan VI sgt tinggi (XHVI).


Lampiran :

Uji coba GTL FT fuel di seluruh dunia oleh Shell :

http://www.shell.com/home/Framework?sit ... _1320.html



Warna solar GTL FT Syn diesel fuel yg sebening air aqua :

http://www.shell.com/home/Framework?sit ... _1630.html

Di sebelah kanan itu solar low sulphur setara solar DEX



Proses produksi GTL :

http://www.shell.com/home/Framework?sit ... _1532.html