For biofuel production to become commercially feasible, shale gas is emerging as a bridge component to smoothen the intermittency of biomass supply and for upgrading to a drop-in fuel. Rather than "re-inventing the wheel" it would be beneficial to learn from the economies that have already been monetizing methane. The goal of this project is to organize a workshop on The Potentials of Shale Gas Monetization considering the Lessons Learned from Qatar's Natural Gas Monetization, in March 2014. The PIs will organize this workshop in Texas to cover research, educational, and best-practice topics in shale gas processing and monetization and will extract key lessons from the experiences in Qatar (which has the world?s largest gas-to-liquid (GTL) facilities and is the world?s largest exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG)). The workshop will be targeted at participants from academic and industrial organizations.
Methane gas-to-liquid fuel conversion has been expensive due to the low energy efficiency and need for a high capital investment. This workshop will focus on highlighting Qatar?s experience in monetizing its natural gas resources while providing techno-economic assessments of the physical treatment (Liquefied Natural Gas or LNG) and the chemical conversion (Gas-to-Liquid or GTL). The workshop will include world's leading experts from industry and academia, and will offer a wide range of perspectives which will enhance the intellectual merit of research being carried out by the US researchers. The workshop will identify the future educational and research opportunities, directions, and emerging trends in natural gas monetization. Attending US graduate student and other researchers will benefit from the workshop, as they could ?leap frog? their technology development. It will also highlight the importance of collaboration between academia and industry to advance exiting commercial technologies and to participate in development of new generations. The workshop will include discussion between academia and industry in institutionalizing undergraduate and graduate-level curriculum changes to provide the energy market with skilled engineers and scientists in the field of natural gas processing.
The NSF funding was used to offer a workshop titled The Potentials of Shale Gas Monetization considering the Lessons Learned from Qatar’s Natural Gas Monetization, from March 26 to 28, 2013 in Montgomery, Texas. The workshop involved two tutorials, 11 keynote presentations, and a poster session. The topics covered research, educational, and best-practice topics in shale gas processing and monetization and extracted key lessons from the experiences in Qatar (which has the world’s largest gas-to-liquid (GTL) facilities and is the world’s largest exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG)). The workshop also focused on highlighting US and Qatar’s experience in monetizing its natural gas resources while providing techno-economic assessments of the physical treatment (Liquefied Natural Gas or LNG) and the chemical conversion (Gas-to-Liquid or GTL). The workshop also provided an overview of natural gas monetization processes and the potentials for the US shale gas in each. Attendees. The workshop was attended by more than 100 participants from academic and industrial organizations. The NSF funding was used mostly to offer financial support (lodging, registration, meals, and facilities) 26 graduate students and postdoctoral researchers as well as academic speakers from the US. Broader Impacts. This workshop has emphasized the success stories in natural gas monetization and identify challenges facing the same. It has also highlighted the importance of collaboration between academia and industry to advance exiting commercial technologies and to participate in development of new generations. Part of the discussion included industrial and academic expectations for the role of the US National Science Foundation and the Department of Energy on supporting research and programs in this area. The workshop included discussion between academia and industry in institutionalizing undergraduate and graduate-level curriculum changes to provide the energy market with skilled engineers and scientists in the field of natural gas processing. The workshop has attracted a diverse student body and provided a unique and global experience, yielding creative thinkers as future leaders. Specifically, the workshop has provided the following broader impact: 1. Reviewed recent progress in natural gas monetization highlighting Qatar’s experience and US shale gas experience and the potential of natural gas in energy market. 2. Identified future educational and research opportunities, directions, and emerging trends in natural gas monetization. 3. Described current and prospected challenges in addressing emerging technologies, in the areas of the environment and energy of natural gas monetization. 4. Discussed supply chain, environmental, and safety issues associated with the emerging shale gas industry in the US 5. Enabled networking and discussion opportunities between junior and senior researchers in the field as well as participants from academia, the government, and industry. Intellectual Merit: The workshop has focused on highlighting the US and Qatar’s experience in monetizing its natural gas resources while providing techno-economic assessments of the physical treatment (Liquefied Natural Gas or LNG) and the chemical conversion (Gas-to-Liquid or GTL). The workshop has provided an overview of natural gas monetization processes and the potentials for the US shale gas in each. In achieving this goal, we have assembled a group of speakers that included experts and some of the world’s leading researchers from academia, federal agencies, and industry. The participants have identified and discussed key intellectual contributions including technology, thermodynamics, catalysis, techno-economic analysis, safety, sustainability, and supply chain management.
