Maverick Announces Its Oasis BG Gas-to-Liquid Methanol Plant

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Here we highlight an interesting solution to the problem of organic waste.

In North Carolina, Maverick Synfuels announced the availability of the Maverick Oasis BG Gas-to-Liquid methanol plant product line. These plants convert biogas from sources such as anaerobic digesters and landfills into higher value methanol, one of the world’s most widely used industrial chemicals.

When paired with anaerobic digesters that produce renewable biogas from organic waste, the Maverick Oasis BG product line is the first small-scale, economically viable solution that simultaneously reduces greenhouse gas emissions while helping to solve environmental problems associated with dairy and swine waste as well as other organic waste. The Maverick Oasis system offers producers of biogas an alternative to generating electricity or venting destructive greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

Why aren’t more facilities being built. According to Maverick, it’s the lack of economically viable alternatives for monetizing the biogas.

At sites equipped with anaerobic digesters, the primary use of biogas has been to generate electricity. In addition, small amounts of biogas are purified and converted into transportation fuel (compressed natural gas), pipeline quality natural gas, or combusted directly to produce heat.

Several existing anaerobic digester projects in the U.S. either have already shut down, or are seriously contemplating shutting down due to the declining revenues from renewable electricity. When electricity rates drop below $0.06/kWh, anaerobic digester projects for producing electricity are not economically viable.

The Maverick Oasis methanol plant uses proprietary technology to convert biogas into thousands of gallons per day of ultra-clean, AA grade methanol that meets ASTM D1152 specifications. The Oasis plant is modular, so it can be rapidly deployed to an operational location, assembled by Maverick’s engineers, and integrated into the local infrastructure.

The Maverick Oasis BG25 methanol plant is the first plant in Maverick’s product line, and has a capacity of 8,300 gallons per day (25 metric tons/day) of methanol. The methanol can be consumed onsite, or easily transported to other markets. With a footprint of 50 feet x 100 feet, the Oasis BG25 plant requires approximately one acre to accommodate storage and tanker truck access.

By using standard assembly line manufacturing processes and replicated design, the Maverick Oasis system significantly reduces the capital requirements and delivery time (typically 10 to 15 months) compared to larger plants that are field constructed.

Methanol is a versatile commodity with multiple uses. In the specialty chemical market, methanol is an important intermediate for producing high-value products, including olefins, acetic acid, formaldehyde, plastics, resins, and other chemical products. In the fuel market, it is used to produce biodiesel, blended with gasoline (M15, M85) or used directly as fuel (M100), converted into dimethyl ether (a diesel and LPG substitute), or converted to gasoline, diesel or jet fuel. READ MORE and MORE (Maverick)