A comparative technical and economic analysis of different processes for shale gas conversion to high value products

Natural gas is a clean fuel and proper feed for chemical industries. However, its transportation to consumer markets is harder and more expensive than that of crude oil because of some specific properties. Therefore, natural gas conversion to chemicals and exporting them instead of gas is safer, and this is also more profitable. Up until now, many methods and alternative techniques have been presented in this field. In this study, three important processes of shale gas conversion to more valuable compounds including gas to liquid (GTL), gas to methanol (GTM), and gas to ethylene (GTE) have been simulated by Aspen HYSYS software. Then the economic parameters of each process have been calculated. Eventually, the initial investment costs for GTM, GTL, and GTE are 422, 249, and 967, respectively. Incommands allowed only within braces addition, the return on investment values for GTM, GTL, and GTE have been estimated as 40, 37, and 20%, respectively.