NAUTIL.US
TEXT SETS
‘““Wecan be as dark as
you want or.as green
Boyayian.
chemical reactors. One turns the syngas into methanol. The next makes methanol into a molecule known as dimethyl ether, or DME in chemist-speak. In the third reactor, catalysts known as zeolites knit DME into gas- oline, in the most expensive and energy-intensive part of the process. The fourth reactor eliminates some of the unwanted byproducts that cause the resulting fuel to congeal at low temperatures.
The key is the zeolites, porous minerals made up of aluminum, silicon, and oxygen that allow the desired chemical reactions to take place. Both Primus and a conventional oil refinery employ zeolites to manipu- late hydrocarbons. At an oil refinery, these catalysts help crack and sort hydrocarbons broken down from crude oil. At Primus, heat and pressure allow zeolites to build gasoline hydrocarbons from the smaller mol- ecules of syngas. Such “catalysts are a bit of a dark art,” says Boyayian. He spars with Fang over whether or not the company will one day make their own. Fang does not accept Boyayian’s need for secrecy, and would be
as you want,” says
more than happy to reveal all those dark arts—a pros- pect that makes the affable Boyayian nervous and tight- lipped. For now, the fledgling company buys the neces- sary catalysts off the shelf and must sign agreements not to examine these zeolites too closely.
Using different catalysts mm the reactors, Fang notes, the company could spit out diesel or jet fuel instead of gasoline. And for every 100 kilograms of syngas, he says, Primus can make 30 kilograms of gasoline or more, using a continuous looping system within the machine that eliminates the need for wasting energy to convert gases to liquids along the way. Little red containers of Fang-made gasoline record its charac- teristics, scrawled on masking tape affixed to the sides: low vapor pressure, a higher-than-average octane con- tent of around 93, and a favorable absence of sulfur or benzene. Oil prices have been rising over the last month, and are currently at more than $100 per barrel; the company estimates that its gasoline costs as Irttle as that derived from oil at $65 per barrel—and could
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