Fulfilment of First Commercial Scale Reactor Order

RNS Number : 1784D

Oxford Catalysts Group PLC

18 March 2011

 



18^th March 2011

OXFORD CATALYSTS GROUP PLC

("Oxford Catalysts" or "the Group")

Fulfilment of First Commercial Scale Reactor Order

Oxford Catalysts Group PLC, the leading technology innovator for synthetic oil production, is pleased to announce that it has successfully completed the fabrication of its first commercial scale FT reactor and catalyst in fulfilment of an order placed in December 2010 by SGC Energia, SGPS, S.A. ("SGCE").

The SGCE order was placed on the back of successful progress made by the Group during 2010, including the demonstration of its FT technology at Güssing, Austria. The order provided an important opportunity for the Group to validate its manufacturing and supply-chain readiness ahead of larger commercial orders. It also represented a key technical milestone agreed with SGCE as requiring completion before they progress with more aggressive commercialisation and implementation of the Group's technology.

The completed full scale FT reactor has been successfully code stamped to ASME standards, thereby providing the necessary certification for commercial use. With a nameplate capacity of some 25 bpd (producing sufficient fuel daily to power 500 cars), and core reactor dimensions of only 2ft x 2ft x 2ft, it exemplifies the process intensification potential of the Group's technology. Its 40,000+ microchannels also illustrate the technology's "numbering up" approach that provides both operational robustness and ease of scaling. The reactor has been fully loaded with the Group's FT catalyst and is ready for commercial deployment.

Roy Lipski, CEO of Oxford Catalysts Group said:

"We are very pleased to have successfully fulfilled our first order for a commercial scale microchannel FT reactor and catalyst on schedule and to specification, thereby demonstrating our readiness for larger commercial orders.

"The market for small scale synthetic fuels production is poised for rapid growth, and the Group remains on track to take advantage of this significant opportunity."

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For further information, please contact:

Oxford Catalysts Roy Lipski, CEO Susan Robertson, CFO	[phone] [phone]
Cenkos Securities plc (Nomad and Broker) Ken Fleming / Jon Fitzpatrick	[phone] [phone]
Financial Dynamics Billy Clegg / Alex Beagley	[phone]

Notes to Editors

Oxford Catalysts designs and develops technology for the production of synthetic oil from both conventional fossil fuels and renewable sources such as bio-waste. The Group is primarily focused on the emerging market for distributed smaller scale production of synthetic oil via Fischer-Tropsch ("FT") synthesis − a market that has the potential of producing as much as 25 million barrels of fuel a day.

The FT reaction is used when converting natural gas, coal or bio-mass into clean high-performance synthetic oil, processes known as GTL, CTL and BTL respectively. The Group is the recognised world leader in the design and development of high-activity catalysts and associated novel chemical reactors for the small scale production of synthetic oil. (The Group's reactor technology − known as microchannel process technology − is marketed under the brand name of Velocys).

Oxford Catalysts Group PLC is listed on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange (LSE: OCG). The Group has some 80 employees with facilities near Oxford, UK and Columbus, Ohio, USA.

www.oxfordcatalysts.com

www.velocys.com

 

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