Smaller-scale gas-to-liquids (GTL) technology provider Velocys announced last month that the manufacture of the full-scale commercial Fischer-Tropsch reactors for hydrocarbon products developer Envia Energy’s Oklahoma City GTL project, in the US, is complete.

Velocys noted that All American Society of Mechanical Engineers certifications, required for the reactors prior to installation and commissioning of the plant, had been issued. All other quality assurance and quality-control protocols have also been achieved.

Commercial production of the initial Fischer-Tropsch catalyst charge for the Envia plant was completed by world-class manufacturers and certified by Velocys’s quality-control protocols. The catalyst meets all performance criteria for the Envia project, with excellent alignment of test results between commercially produced and laboratory-produced catalysts.

Fabrication of the modular process units is continuing at crude oil processing solution provider Ventech Engineers International in Pasadena, Texas. Mechanical completion of the plant is expected to be in the first half of next year.

Envia Energy is a joint venture between US-based Waste Management, US-based energy company NRG Energy, Ventech Engineers International and Velocys, formed in March 2014 to produce renewable fuels and chemicals from biogas and natural gas using GTL. The Envia Energy Oklahoma City project will provide a commercial reference plant for the use of Velocys’s technology.

Meanwhile, Envia Energy is to be awarded the highly prestigious Vanguard award at Keep Oklahoma Beautiful’s twenty- fifth Environmental Excellence Awards on November 30, 2015.

Velocys CFO and acting CEO Susan Robertson says: “Velocys continues its drive towards our goals – first and foremost, the delivery of our commercial reference plant in Oklahoma City. “The completion of the catalyst and reactors is an important milestone, and we and our joint venture partners continue to make solid progress on Envia’s project. We were also delighted to hear that Envia is to receive a well-respected state-level environmental award.”