Motor oil made from natural gas ?

[rfuerst911sc]

I am watching the Indy car race from Long Beach and just saw a Pennsoil commercial that said the oil was made from natural gas vs. crude oil. I am not aware of this , any of you guys know about this ? I find it interesting and could help spawn new oil threads !!!

[legion]

I can't imagine how it would chemically be much different than what is called "synthetic". I'd imagine it is more expensive to produce.

[Sooner or later]

it is synrhetic. I think Ferrari specs it for all of their road cars. I know there are others.

[unclebilly]

Ummm you can buy it at Walmart often cheaper than Mobil 1.





The regular Pennzoil Platinum Synthetic is also made from natural gas. I’ve been running this in my daily drivers for about 3 or 4 years.

[rfuerst911sc]

Interesting I did not know this . So if their engineers have figured out how to make " oil " from natural gas can they make a bio fuel to replace gasoline ?

[unclebilly]

Yup. It’s GTL and been around for about 50 years. Shell figured out how to make it economically viable for motor oil.

[unclebilly]

Check out Greyrock.com there is a demo about 10 miles from my place.

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by rfuerst911sc

So if their engineers have figured out how to make " oil " from natural gas can they make a bio fuel to replace gasoline ?

Sure. It's all a matter of economics and politics.

[RWebb]

yup - you can synthesize it up (from CH4)

or you can crack it down (from crude)

"whichever way your pleasure tends"

[red-beard]

Originally Posted by rfuerst911sc

Interesting I did not know this . So if their engineers have figured out how to make " oil " from natural gas can they make a bio fuel to replace gasoline ?

Yes. We're doing it right now. The issue is making it economical.

[RWebb]

once we figure out how to get bacteria or algae to do it, we can make it economical

... not that it matters much, as there is not going to be a shortage of lubricating oils for a few millennia

but the same bio-tech can be used to make zero or low-carbon emissions bio-fuels

[rfuerst911sc]

Originally Posted by red-beard

Yes. We're doing it right now. The issue is making it economical.

Not to sound like Spock or Sheldon Cooper but I find this ............ fascinating Thanks for the reply .

[rfuerst911sc]

Originally Posted by RWebb

once we figure out how to get bacteria or algae to do it, we can make it economical

... not that it matters much, as there is not going to be a shortage of lubricating oils for a few millennia

but the same bio-tech can be used to make zero or low-carbon emissions bio-fuels

I moved from Orlando FL. to Georgia about 9 years ago . Before we moved the Orlando Sentinel did a write up on the University of Central Florida's work with algae and bio fuel . At that time the engineering dept. was making small amounts of bio diesel that was algae based . I think there was one teacher and about 5 - 6 students that were running this fuel in their own vehicles as part of the testing . I thought it was a great idea with a lot of potential . There are plenty of places on earth that could be algae farm friendly , obviously FL. being one of them due to temps and humidity . I'd be curious to know how far they got with their research .

[Clint Lando]

Originally Posted by rfuerst911sc

Interesting I did not know this . So if their engineers have figured out how to make " oil " from natural gas can they make a bio fuel to replace gasoline ?

yes how much you pay

[red-beard]

Originally Posted by rfuerst911sc

I moved from Orlando FL. to Georgia about 9 years ago . Before we moved the Orlando Sentinel did a write up on the University of Central Florida's work with algae and bio fuel . At that time the engineering dept. was making small amounts of bio diesel that was algae based . I think there was one teacher and about 5 - 6 students that were running this fuel in their own vehicles as part of the testing . I thought it was a great idea with a lot of potential . There are plenty of places on earth that could be algae farm friendly , obviously FL. being one of them due to temps and humidity . I'd be curious to know how far they got with their research .

You have to think about the fact that photosynthesis is a form of solar. And the stored energy is a lot less than you'd get from PV. And that is the issue! How cheap does it have to get to make it economical, when you include the refining/processing.

We are using bio-mass based low-btu methane in engines to make electricity. There is a push to refine the gas and make it into a motor fuel.

[sammyg2]

Originally Posted by rfuerst911sc

I moved from Orlando FL. to Georgia about 9 years ago . Before we moved the Orlando Sentinel did a write up on the University of Central Florida's work with algae and bio fuel . At that time the engineering dept. was making small amounts of bio diesel that was algae based . I think there was one teacher and about 5 - 6 students that were running this fuel in their own vehicles as part of the testing . I thought it was a great idea with a lot of potential . There are plenty of places on earth that could be algae farm friendly , obviously FL. being one of them due to temps and humidity . I'd be curious to know how far they got with their research .

Without going into too much detail, that's what I do for a living now.
Algae to fuel.
And yes it is still in the research phase as actual production will be completely cost-prohibitive on even a large scale.

[Porchdog]

One of my old college room-mates was a senior scientist at Mobil. I'm pretty sure that he told me a couple decades ago that most or all synthetic oil was synthesized from natural gas.

I'm working on a demonstration project right now for a company synthesizing fuel from ethanol. It would be a lot easier if they were starting with natural gas.

Looking at the energy input required it appears that the desire for a "green" label is the only justification. It's pretty crazy the equipment investment and energy required to do the conversion.

[red-beard]

Steam reforming takes a LOT of energy.

[sammyg2]

And some of the catalysts involved can contain significant amounts of Ru ($$$$$$$$$$$$$).

I'm working (with others) on a way to substitute iron-based catalysts without the typical loss of conversion or spoiling.

[kach22i]

Didn't Germany do this in WW2?

EDIT

It was coal

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synthetic_fuel

Direct conversion of coal to synthetic fuel was originally developed in Germany