DKRW Advanced Fuels is working with leading industry and financial partners to develop a greenfield, mine-mouth, Coal-to-Liquids (CTL) facility in Medicine Bow, Wyoming. The project will use Carbon Basin coal optioned from our partner (and coal mine operator) Arch Coal to produce refined hydrocarbon liquid products that meet critical energy needs in an environmentally responsible manner. Commercial operation of the 15,000 - 20,000 barrels per day project is expected to start in 2013.

The CTL facility will utilize General Electric Company’s coal gasification technology to produce synthetic gas, which will be cleaned to remove substantially all of the sulfur and carbon dioxide (CO₂). This process significantly reduces greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental impacts associated with traditional uses of coal.  The cleaned syngas is conditioned, modified and converted to methanol.

Through use of a technology license secured from ExxonMobil Research and Engineering, the methanol will be converted to gasoline.  The commercially proven methanol-to-gasoline technology incorporates improvements since the process was originally developed and put into use by ExxonMobil Research and Engineering 20 years ago in New Zealand.

Other key agreements include UOP (Selexol acid gas removal) and Davy Process Technology (methanol synthesis).

In addition to liquid fuels, primarily gasoline, a number of byproducts of the liquefaction process, including carbon dioxide (CO₂) and chemicals, are expected to be sold for use in the region. CO₂ can be dried, liquefied and shipped via pipeline, and plans are to sell it to the enhanced oil recovery market.

The project will bring many benefits to the local community and the nation. In addition to an estimated 450 full-time operating jobs, the area will gain a significant number of construction jobs over a four-year period, with the average number estimated at 600 and the maximum expected to be up to 2,300. On a broader scale, the US will benefit from the alternative fuels production, reduced dependence on foreign sources of energy and increased U.S. refined goods production.