1st November, 2009
The Duke of York visits Qatar Shell research facility
Gulf Times, Qatar
The Duke of York visited Shell scientists at the Qatar Shell Research & Technology Centre. He was accompanied by British Ambassador to Qatar John Hawkins and other officials. The delegation was hosted by Andy Brown, Shell’s executive vice-president Qatar and managing director of the Pearl Gas to Liquids project.
The work at the Qatar Shell Research & Technology Centre is focused on the development and implementation of technologies that support Qatar’s energy industry, particularly Qatar’s aspirations to be the globe’s largest liquefied natural gas exporter and the gas to liquids capital of the world.
Shell is committed to investing $100mn at the research centre over a 10-year period.
Major projects include testing and developing gas to liquids catalysts for the Pearl GTL project, the world’s largest gas to liquids plant, which Shell is building with Qatar Petroleum at Ras Laffan.
Scientists at the centre are also researching the properties of GTL products and developing novel uses for sulphur, which is a co-product of Qatar’s natural gas.
Work is also underway to deepen the understanding of carbonate reservoirs and their potential use for carbon dioxide storage - Qatar Petroleum and Shell have teamed up with the QSTP and Imperial College London on this project, with 20 PhD students and 20 post-doctoral researchers working on it in Qatar and the United Kingdom.
Scientists at the facility have adopted a network approach for much of the research work, involving young Qatari academic researchers and linking them to senior researchers in Qatar and abroad.
Another example of this approach is the agreement signed earlier this month to research the properties of GTL jet fuel with Texas A&M at Qatar and the University of Sheffield.
