Technology Overview

This chapter focuses on the production of green liquid fuels using Fischer–Tropsch Synthesis (FTS). The technology uses catalytic reactions between hydrogen and carbon monoxide to produce liquid fuels from syngas. For renewable fuel production, feedstocks must be renewable, such as biomass or green hydrogen. The process typically uses iron- or cobalt-based catalysts under specific temperature and pressure conditions.

Technical Characteristics

FTS technologies include production pathways from biomass via gasification and from electricity using green hydrogen. Biomass-based production involves converting solid biomass into syngas and then into liquid fuel. Electricity-based production uses green hydrogen to generate syngas from CO₂ and H₂, followed by FTS conversion.

Product Distribution	Low-temp Iron	Low-temp Cobalt	High-temp Iron
C1–C2	6%	7%	23%
C2–C4	8%	5%	24%
Oxygenates	4%	2%	10%
Naphtha	12%	20%	33%
Diesel	20%	22%	7%
Wax	50%	44%	–

FTS has not yet been widely commercialized for green fuel production, although commercial plants using fossil-based feedstocks exist. For example, Shell’s plant in Qatar produces 260,000 barrels/day. Pilot plants using green hydrogen can produce around 160 liters of fuel per day.

Investment costs range from approximately 2.58 to 5.64 million USD/MW, with an average of 3.27 million USD/MW.

Application in Vietnam

Currently, this technology has not been deployed in Vietnam.