Main content | back to top
Gas to liquids products
Pearl GTL will be the world’s largest source of gas to liquids (GTL) products, each with qualities that appeal to different consumers. Making those products requires a complex plant, like a giant chemistry set, which first combines, then breaks up and rearranges chains of atoms.
The first step is to remove all the naturally occurring hydrocarbon liquids, such as condensates and liquefied petroleum gas from the gas that’s piped ashore. The second step is to remove contaminants like metals and sulphur. That leaves methane, the simplest hydrocarbon (CH4), made up of one carbon atom and four hydrogen atoms. A series of carefully-controlled chemical reactions combined with variations in heat and pressure turns the methane into chains of carbon and hydrogen atoms.
Chains of different lengths have different properties, making a range of GTL products:
GTL Base oils
GTL Base oils are an alternative starting point for the manufacture of finished lubricants, that keep vehicle engines, gearboxes and transmissions operating smoothly. Shell has been making high quality GTL Base oils commercially (from our plant in Bintulu, Malaysia) since 1993. The Pearl GTL project will significantly increase their availability.
GTL Gasoil
GTL Gasoil is an alternative and economic diesel-type fuel that will contribute to the diversification of diesel fuel supply. It can be blended easily with conventional, oil-based diesel and used in the existing diesel distribution system. Shell has already blended some GTL Gasoil (from our plant in Bintulu, Malaysia) into the Shell V-Power Diesel we sell to customers at over 5,000 sites in Europe and Thailand. GTL Gasoil can also be used by refineries to upgrade heavier fuel products. This is because of two of its technical properties – it has a lower density and higher cetane number than conventional diesel. A further characteristic is that it burns with lower sulphur dioxide, lower nitrogen oxides and particulate emissions than conventional oil-based diesel. This means that if used at higher concentrations it can be attractive for improving local air quality. Shell has already trialled 100% GTL gasoil with a number of city bus and taxi fleets.
GTL Kerosene
GTL Kerosene can be used for heating and lighting but its main use will most likely be for aviation, helping to diversify the aviation fuel supply. It was recently approved for use in aviation in a blend of up to 50% with conventional oil-based jet fuel. A characteristic of GTL Kerosene is that it burns with lower sulphur dioxide, lower nitrogen oxides and particulate emissions than conventional oil-based kerosene. If used at higher concentrations it can be attractive for improving air quality at busy airports. A Qatar Airways Airbus A340 made the first commercial passenger flight using a 50-50 blend of GTL and conventional jet fuel in October 2009. The finished product blend is known as GTL Jet Fuel.
GTL Normal Paraffin
GTL Normal Paraffin is an alternative feedstock for detergents. Detergent manufacturing companies usually extract conventional normal paraffin from oil-based kerosene and return the remaining kerosene to refineries. GTL Normal Paraffin eliminates this extraction step and so offers companies cost and location advantages.
GTL Naphtha
GTL Naphtha is an alternative feedstock for chemicals plants that make the building blocks for plastics. It has a much higher paraffin content than conventional naphtha, which means each litre of GTL Naphtha can produce more plastics.
