Greyrock Energy Inc. has received investor support for a small-scale gas-to-liquids (GTL) facility in the Houston area and expects to have the plant operational by the end of 2015, the company said Tuesday.

Sacramento, CA-based Greyrock said the project will be funded by a consortium of investors led by Sterling Private Capital and Eagle Oil & Gas Co., both of which are based in Dallas.

“[We are] proud to announce with our partners, the kickoff of one of the first small-scale GTL production facilities in the world,” said Greyrock CEO Robert Schuetzle. “[We have] built a modular conversion platform that positions us to successfully deliver this facility and additional small-scale GTL systems worldwide.”

According to Greyrock’s website, the company’s core innovation is a proprietary direct-to-diesel catalyst called GreyCat, which reduces the costs and complexity of traditional GTL processing through bypassing the intermediate hydrocarbon wax that is normally refined into finished products. GreyCat is distributed using the company’s proprietary dGTL system.

Greyrock said its modular gas conversion system can use a variety of source fuels, including natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGL) such as ethane, stranded gas resources and associated gas. The company said it targets midstream operators and producers looking to avoid more expensive, large-scale processes found in traditional GTL systems.

“In addition to conversion of natural gas into fuels, we are very excited about the opportunity to convert NGLs, especially ethane, in geographies where ethane pricing is depressed and a challenge for producers to deal with,” said Pat S. Bolin, Eagle executive chairman.

Last August, three companies agreed to collaborate on a GTL demonstration project in Houston (see Daily GPI, Aug. 5). Houston-based Biofuels Power Corp. has signed a letter of intent with ThyssenKrupp Industrial Solutions (Africa) (Pty) Ltd. and Liberty GTL Inc. to build a small-scale GTL demonstration facility with the goal of completing the facility by the end of the year.

Elsewhere, Primus Green Energy Inc. has proposed marketing a GTL solution for flared associated gas in North Dakota’s Bakken Shale (see Shale Daily, June 4), while four other companies — Velocys plc, Waste Management Inc., NRG Energy Inc. and Ventech Engineers International LLC — have proposed deploying a series of small-scale GTL projects across Oklahoma (see Daily GPI, March 25).