The U.S. Trade and Development Agency awarded a grant to Swayana (Pty) Ltd, a Pretoria-based energy project developer, for a feasibility study that will use innovative U.S. technologies to convert waste gas – also known as off-gas – into a valuable commodity at a plant in South Africa’s Mpumalanga province.  The project will use proprietary technologies from Illinois-based LanzaTech, Inc. to create ethanol from off-gas generated as a byproduct of ferroalloy smelting.

South African green technology company Swayana is collaborating with US-based carbon recycling company LanzaTech to introduce its proprietary carbon capture technology into South Africa.

Swayana, a Level 2 broad-based black economic-empowerment company established in 2016, uses carbon-footprint-reducing technologies to produce and sell biofuel products. One such technology is the LanzaTech microbial fermentation technology, which produces ethanol from industrial offgases. Swayana notes that the ethanol will, initially, be sold on the global market as a green fuel.

LanzaTech’s first commercial facility – which is based in China – will be on line by the end of 2017. It will produce fuel-grade ethanol from captured steelmaking offgas. “The successful application of LanzaTech’s innovative platform in steelmaking has led to commercial engagement with companies in the ferroalloys sector,” comments Swayana.

The possible impact of using offgases from this sector is considerable. South Africa has the potential to produce more than 400 000 t/y ethanol from existing ferroalloys and titania producers. “This would sequester over 700 000 t of carbon dioxide a year – the equivalent to removing 250 000 cars from South Africa’s roads,” says Swayana.

As part of this collaboration, the companies have progressed the concept of a commercial ethanol production facility to the prefeasibility phase. The prefeasibility study (PFS) is based on the use of offgases from an existing smelter site in the Mpumalanga province. “As part of the process development of this plant, a pilot unit was shipped to South Africa, and successful fermentation tests have been conducted with the smelter offgas, supporting the PFS design,” the company explains.

Swayana notes that the air quality in the industrial areas of Mpumalanga is under substantial environmental pressure, and believes that this plant will contribute significantly to the green and sustainability drives in the area by reducing the carbon footprint, contributing to cleaner air, generating jobs, and developing a new industry based on ethanol and its chemical derivatives.

“Such projects facilitate social upliftment and infrastructuregeneration in areas of high regional unemployment. This technology not only reduces carbon but also echoes the actions of the South African government in prioritising initiatives that can bring such societal benefits to the country,” Swayana states.

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is working with Swayana to realise the implementation of the project. Swayana has applied to the Black Industrialist Programme and the application is in progress. Further, InvestSA, a division of the DTI, is assisting in facilitating the project both in the US and in South Africa.

“South Africa currently supplies a large percentage of worldwide demand in ferroalloys and titania slag and is an ideal place for LanzaTech’s carbon capture technology. This facility will open up the market for a green-based chemicals technology [tethered to] one of South Africa’s strengths, namely the mining and beneficiation of minerals,” said Swayana cofounder Joseph Zinyana.

“The large volume of offgas produced at industrial facilities cannot be stored or transported, rather it must be combusted and is therefore emitted as carbon dioxide,” said LanzaTechCEO Jennifer Holmgren. “Capturing these emissions prior to combustion enables our partners to create value and to turn a liability into an opportunity. We are excited to be working with Swayana to bring carbon recycling to South Africa.”

The LanzaTech Technology 
Swayana notes that LanzaTech’s gas fermentation technology uses carbon-containing gases as both a nutrient and energysource for microorganisms that, in turn, produce fuels and chemicals.

In the LanzaTech process, a carbon monoxide (CO) gassource is introduced into a bioreactor vessel. Fermentation proceeds in a liquid medium, where the microbes grow and produce specific products. These naturally occurring microbes are entirely contained in the bioreactor and have no direct interaction with the outside environment.

As the reaction proceeds the end products are recovered and separated from the water, which can be returned to the bioreactor, and prepared for their intended downstream markets. The products that come from this process are quite diverse and depend on the specific microbes.

“The upgrading of the CO-rich offgas to ethanol is similar to adding a beer brewery followed by a whiskey distillery next to the ferroalloy plant,” says Swayana cofounder Dr Jacobus Swanepoel.

Family Business 
Swayana is owned and managed by the Zinyana and Swanepoel families. Zinyana and Swanepoel have independent engineering companies – New Age Engineering Solutions and Thermtron Scientific respectively – and have a working relationship that has lasted for more than 15 years. The two had previously collaborated on various projects, including the turnkey design and supply of the highly successful uranium coating facility for the Pebble Bed Modular Reactor company in 2006.

Original press release can be viewed here

South African engineering company Swayana has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with LanzaTech to collaborate on developing projects for the production of ethanol and higher value products from waste gases in the ferroalloy and titania smelting sectors.

LanzaTech’s first commercial facility will be online at the end of 2017 in China, producing fuel-grade ethanol from captured steelmaking off-gas. The successful application of LanzaTech’s innovative platform in steel making has led to commercial engagement with companies in the ferroalloy sector.

Ferroalloys are alloys of iron with some element other than carbon; the ferroalloy “carries” that element into molten metal—e.g., during steel manufacturing. Ferroalloys thus serve important functions during iron and steel production. The principal ferroalloys are those of chromium (used for corrosion resistance in stainless steel); manganese (used to counteract the harmful effects of sulfur in the production of steel and cast iron); and silicon (used for deoxidation in steel and as an alloying agent in cast iron).

Boron, cobalt, columbium, copper, molybdenum, nickel, phosphorus, titanium, tungsten, vanadium, zirconium, and the rare earths impart specific characteristics and are usually added as ferroalloys.

Ferroalloys are usually produced by the reduction of a metallic ore (usually an oxide) by carbon. Depending on the alloying element, the grade and other economic/technological considerations, the details of the production processes can vary widely. In all cases, however, the production of ferroalloys is energy-intensive.

In a 2007 paper presented at the XI International Conference on Innovations in the Ferro Alloy Industry (Infacon XI), a team from the US EPA, the Norwegian Pollution Control Authority (SFT), and SINTEF Materials and Chemistry (Lindstad et al.) noted that:

Ferroalloys are most commonly produced by electric submerged arc furnaces with graphite electrodes or consumable Søderberg electrodes. Some ferroalloys, and especially ferromanganese, are also produced in blast furnaces. In addition to emissions originating from reducing agents and electrodes, the calcination of carbonates in ores and fluxes such as limestone or dolomite, contribute to the emission of CO₂. Primary emissions in covered arc furnaces consist almost entirely of CO, due to the strong reducing environment. This CO is either utilized for energy production in boilers, or it is flared. The energy produced is assumed to be used internally at the site and the carbon content of the CO subsequently converted to CO₂ in-plant. The CO gas produced in open or semi-closed furnaces is burnt to CO₂ above the charge level. Any CO emitted to the atmosphere is assumed to be converted to CO₂ within days afterwards.

The possible impact of using off-gases from this sector is considerable. South Africa has the potential to produce more than 400,000 tonnes of ethanol per year from existing ferroalloy and titania producers. This would prevent the release of more than 700,000 tonnes of CO₂ per annum—the equivalent to removing 250,000 cars from South Africa’s roads.

In this collaboration, a first commercial ethanol production facility is in the pre-feasibility (PFS) phase and it is based on off-gases from an existing smelter site in the Mpumalanga province of South Africa.

As part of the process development of this plant, a pilot unit was shipped to South Africa, and successful fermentation tests have been conducted with the smelter off-gas, supporting the PFS design.

The air quality of the industrial areas of Mpumalanga is under substantial environmental pressure, and this plant will contribute to the green- and sustainability drives in the area by reducing the carbon footprint, contributing to cleaner air, generating jobs, and developing a new industry based on ethanol and its chemical derivatives.

The Department of Trade and Industry of South Africa (dti) is working with Swayana to realize the implementation of the project. Swayana has applied for a Black Industrialist Programme and the application is in progress. InvestSA, a division of the dti, is assisting in facilitating the project both in the USA and in SA.

South Africa currently supplies a large percentage of the worldwide demand in ferroalloys and titania slag and is an ideal place for LanzaTech’s carbon capture technology and this first facility will open up the market for a green based chemicals technology based on one of SA strengths, namely mining and beneficiation of minerals.

—Joseph Zinyana of Swayana

LanzaTech’s gas fermentation technology uses carbon-containing gases as both a nutrient and energy source for micro-organisms that, in turn, produce fuels and chemicals.

In the LanzaTech process, a carbon monoxide (CO) gas source, is introduced into a bioreactor vessel. Fermentation proceeds in a liquid medium where the microbes grow and produce specific products. These naturally occurring microbes are entirely contained in the bioreactor and have no direct interaction with the outside environment.

As the reaction proceeds the end-products are recovered and separated from the water, which can be returned to the bioreactor, and prepared for their intended downstream markets. The products that come from this process are quite diverse and depend on the specific microbes.

Swayana was established in 2016 and is a South African registered, Level 2 BBBEE company utilizing carbon footprint reducing technologies—one of which is ethanol from industrial CO containing off-gases, using the LanzaTech microbial fermentation technology. The ethanol will be sold as a green fuel into the global market initially, but with larger production volumes anticipated it can be used as feedstock to the chemical industry, specifically for ethylene and polyethylene production.

Resources

• T. Lindstad, S.E. Olsen, G. Tranell, T. Færden and J. Lubetsky (2007) “Greenhouse Gas Emissions From Ferroalloy Production” Proceedings of the XI International Conference on Innovations in the Ferro Alloy Industry, Infacon XI

Original press release can be viewed here