Secunda CTL is a synthetic fuel plant owned by

Sasol Sasol Limited is an integrated energy and chemical company based in Sandton, South Africa. The company was formed in 1950 in Sasolburg, South Africa and built on processes that were first developed by German chemists and engineers in the early ...

at Secunda, Mpumalanga in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

. It uses

coal liquefaction Coal liquefaction is a process of converting coal into liquid hydrocarbons: liquid fuels and petrochemicals. This process is often known as "Coal to X" or "Carbon to X", where X can be many different hydrocarbon-based products. However, the most c ...

to produce

petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crud ...

-like synthetic crude oil from

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when ...

. The process used by Sasol is based on the Fischer–Tropsch process. It is the largest

plant and the largest single emitter of greenhouse gas in the world. Secunda CTL consists of two production units. The Sasol II unit was constructed in 1980 and the Sasol III unit in 1984. It has total production capacity of .

Greenhouse gas emissions

it is the world's largest single emitter of greenhouse gas, at 56.5 million tonnes a year. However, if Afşin-Elbistan C power station in Turkey is built and operated at planned capacity it would emit over 60 million tonnes a year. Air Liquide acquired the 42,000 tons/day oxygen production in 2020, with plans for 900 MW power plants to reduce emissions.

Unique plant infrastructure

The Sasol III Steam Plant has a tall chimney built by Concor, which consists of a high windshield and four reinforced concrete flues which together with a high temporary roof on the 4th flue make it one the tallest structures in Africa.

In Media

As a major component of South Africa's economy, Secunda was in turn a major target of the

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a social-democratic political party in South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when the first post-apartheid election install ...

during the

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

era. Two ANC attacks (and their aftermath) were dramatized in the 2006 film '' Catch a Fire''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Secunda Ctl Petroleum in South Africa Coal in South Africa Chimneys in South Africa Synthetic fuel facilities Coal infrastructure Energy infrastructure in South Africa Economy of Mpumalanga Secunda, Mpumalanga

Greenhouse gas emissions

Unique plant infrastructure

In Media

See also

References

External links