Shell first to offer gas-based fluids and solvents globally for chemicals industry

The paraffinic fluids are made from gas-to-liquids (GTL) products manufactured at the world’s largest GTL plant – Pearl GTL in Qatar, a joint venture of Shell and Qatar Petroleum. “The global solvents market continues to grow, trending towards performance products with lower environmental impact that meet stringent regulatory standards,” said Graham van’t Hoff, Executive Vice-President of Shell Chemicals. “Shell Chemicals is responding to this market demand.”

While demand is still expected from ‘traditional’ segments, such as paints and coatings, personal care, cosmetics, and inks, it is increasing in a wide range of other end-uses, such as water treatment, crop protection, oilfield chemicals, mining, industrial cleaning, and consumer goods.

Shell has been using upstream and downstream gas to manufacture a range of petrochemicals at its key facilities in the UK, USA, Canada, and Saudi Arabia. This latest offering is yet another way that Shell uses gas – instead of crude oil – as a feedstock to make and supply building-block petrochemicals, says the company.

Based on the proprietary Middle Distillates Synthesis technology, Shell GTL fluids and solvents are said to offer enhanced performance over conventional products in a number of applications. Besides their high purity, low odour, and more stable and consistent composition, the new range of GTL fluids and solvents are designed to be readily biodegradable, with low eco-toxicity and photochemical reactivity. This range is also designed to result in very low ozone formation potential, says Shell.