From time to time over the long course of our reportage documenting the plain fact, that, Coal can, cleanly and efficiently, be converted into quite literally anything we now blindly, like sheep being led to the charnel house gate, insist upon mortgaging our grandchildren's futures to the foreign, alien nations of OPEC to keep ourselves supplied with in the here and now, we've been able to bring you items of corporate literature that say the same thing as plain as day.
How such items can have been, and still are being, so utterly ignored by the self-styled free press of United States Coal Country is beyond our ken, but, for one example, see our report of:
West Virginia Coal Association | ExxonMobil "Clean Gasoline from Coal" | Research & Development; which concerns the ExxonMobil marketing brochure: "Methanol to Gasoline (MTG): Production of Clean Gasoline from Coal; So Advanced, Yet So Simple".
Of course, the company that has been in the business of converting Coal into gasoline and Diesel fuels, on a large-scale industrial and commercial basis, for the longest period of time is South Africa's Sasol, about which we've reported numerous times, as, for one instance, in:
West Virginia Coal Association | US EPA Recommends Coal Liquefaction as a Clean Alternative | Research & Development; concerning the official US Government report: "'Clean Alternative Fuels: Fischer-Tropsch'; United States Environmental Protection Agency; EPA420-F-00-036; March 2002; A Success Story (!) For the past 50 years, Fischer-Tropsch fuels have powered all of South Africa’s vehicles, from buses to trucks to taxicabs. The fuel is primarily supplied by Sasol, a world leader in Fischer-Tropsch technologies. Sasol’s South African facility produces more than 150,000 barrels of high quality fuel from domestic low-grade coal daily. The popular fuel is cost-competitive with crude oil-based petroleum products in South Africa".
The name "Sasol" is often explained as being an acronym for "South Africa Synthetic Oil Limited"; and, more can be learned via some of their web sites:
sasol | explore sasol | history; "Sasol was formed in 1950 in Sasolburg in South Africa and celebrated 60 years of operation in 2010. (Milestones include) Formation of Sasol to commercialise coal-to-liquids (CTL) technology in South Africa (in 1950, and, starting to produce) synthetic fuels and chemicals at Sasolburg, South Africa (in 1955)"; and:
sasol | explore sasol | technologies & processes; "Sasol's coal gasification activities have a rich history spanning over five decades. Its technological achievements include the design, engineering and commissioning of the Dakota Gasification company facility in the United States where Substitute Natural Gas is produced from lignite. Since it began using synthetic fuels, Sasol has been able to make cleaner liquid fuels. Its diesel, produced through coal-to-liquids technologies, has low sulphur and low emissions".
Concerning Sasol's above mention of "the Dakota Gasification company facility in the United States where Substitute Natural Gas is produced from lignite", see, for one example, our report of:
West Virginia Coal Association | North Dakota Commercial Coal to Methane | Research & Development; concerning the USDOE report: "Practical Experience Gained During the First Twenty Years of Operation of the Great Plains Gasification Plant and Implications for Future Projects'; United States Department of Energy; Office of Fossil Energy; April, 2006. Executive Summary: The Dakota Gasification Company’s (DGC) Great Plains Synfuels Plant (GPSP) in Beulah, North Dakota has operated successfully for 20 years as the only commercial coal-to-natural gas facility in the United States. The experience gained during those 20 years has created an opportunity to benefit from a fully proven technology base".
In any case, Sasol isn't shy about advertising their Coal conversion expertise; and, herein, we present one of their advertising brochures explaining their history, and their technology, for converting abundant Coal into liquid hydrocarbon transportation fuels:
"Unlocking the Potential Wealth of Coal: Introducing Sasol’s Unique Coal-to-Liquids Technology:
A Strategic Opportunity for Coal-Rich Countries
(Complete files of this document, and of the above-cited "Methanol to Gasoline (MTG): Production of Clean Gasoline from Coal; So Advanced, Yet So Simple", from ExxonMobil, will be transmitted to the West Virginia Coal Association, should they wish to provide links to those documents as stored on their own web site computers.)
Coal - a hydrocarbon-rich resource still found in abundant quantities in many parts of the world - provides a key for unlocking many of our future global requirements for high-quality energy and chemical building blocks.
On the basis of current reserve estimates and consumption rates, the world has enough fossil fuels to meet human needs for about 300 years. While crude oil and natural gas reserves are expected to last for about 40 years and 60 years, respectively, coal reserves could be usable for another 200 to 225 years based on current consumption rates. Coal, by far, is the world’s most abundant recoverable hydrocarbon resource.
The world’s proven coal reserves are estimated to be 985-billion tons, with the largest known reserves being in the United States, Russia, China, India, Australia, Germany and South Africa.
During the twentieth century, research on the extraction of energy from coal was focused on two primary approaches:
- direct liquefaction by converting coal into liquids with the help of hydrogen and heavy oils;
(See, for one example, our report of:
West Virginia Coal Association | Exxon 1982 CoalTL Uses WVU CoalTL Hydrogen Donor Solvent | Research & Development; concerning: "United States Patent 4,345,989 - Catalytic Hydrogen-donor Liquefaction Process; 1982; Assignee: Exxon Research and Engineering Company; Abstract: Coal or a similar solid carbonaceous feed material is converted into lower molecular weight liquid hydrocarbons by contacting the feed material with a hydrogen-donor solvent".)
and:
- indirect liquefaction by first gasifying coal and then converting the resulting gas into liquids through the
process of Fischer-Tropsch synthesis.
(See, for example, our report of:
West Virginia Coal Association | Mobil Converts Coal to High Quality Gasoline | Research & Development; concerning: "United States Patent 4,076,761 - Process for the Manufacture of Gasoline; 1978; Assignee: Mobil Oil Corporation; Abstract: Synthesis gas comprising a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen is derived from fossil fuels and catalytically converted in a first reaction zone to a mixture of methanol and dimethyl ether which in turn is converted in a separate reaction zone ... into a high octane gasoline fraction, a light hydrocarbon gas fraction which may be liquefied and a hydrogen-rich gaseous by-product which is recycled to the conversion of fossil fuels to synthesis gas or may be otherwise used. This invention is concerned with a process for converting coal ... to high quality gasoline".)
The global energy crises of the 1970s, and the associated concerns about the future supplies of affordable crude oil, restimulated international interest in the viability of converting coal into liquid fuels. Between the mid-1970s and the mid-1980s, Sasol developed its second and third coal-based synthetic fuels (synfuels) plants at Secunda in South Africa: Sasol Two and Sasol Three. Today, these plants are operated as an integrated operation by Sasol Synfuels.
In the 1980s, however,much of the international interest in coal gasification waned due to the relative glut of cheap oil.
Since the late-1990s, however, coal gasification and Fischer-Tropsch synthesis have again aroused significant interest because several coal-rich countries have intensified their strategic focus on improving their energy security and achieving energy self-sufficiency. In a few instances, some countries are having to confront the reality of declining domestic crude oil production in the face of increasing domestic consumption. This increases the affected countries’ dependency on energy imports and therefore their concerns about their future energy security.
Coal-to-liquids (CTL) conversion may help to provide greater energy self-sufficiency and energy security for countries with sufficient coal reserves and the ability and will to provide the required enabling environment.
(The "sufficient coal reserves" and "ability" we obviously have. As we've noted previously, the "will" to get off our dead cans and do something about it seems sadly to be lacking.)
The viability of CTL technology is more compelling at a time when crude oil prices are trading at high levels and some of the world’s oil-rich regions are undergoing political instability and uncertainty. However, this process is still fundamentally capital intensive in comparison to alternatives such as crude oil refining hence the need for the involvement and support of host governments.
Environmental concerns have also helped to bring coal gasification to the forefront of strategically minded energy thinking with the development in more recent years of more environmentally benign coal based technologies. The development of clean coal technologies, such as the integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) technology, combined with the potential for the commercial storage of concentrated carbon dioxide (CO2), for power generation has led to the availability of processes that are considered to be
more environmentally desirable than traditional coal-fired power plants.
(Well, nuts to "the commercial storage of concentrated carbon dioxide (CO2)". Sasol, by the way, as we documented long ago, has a somewhat agrarian approach to Carbon Dioxide offsets, with a program of crop planting and reforestation. But, there are, as seen, for only one out of now many examples, in our report of:
West Virginia Coal Association | US Navy May 7, 2013, CO2 to Liquid Hydrocarbon Fuels | Research & Development; concerning: "United States Patent 8,436,457 - Synthesis of Hydrocarbons Via Catalytic Reduction of CO2; May 7, 2013; Assignee: The United States of America, as represented by the Secretary of the Navy; Abstract: A method of: introducing hydrogen and a feed gas containing at least 50 vol % carbon dioxide into a reactor containing a Fischer-Tropsch catalyst; and heating the hydrogen and carbon dioxide to a temperature of at least about 190 C to produce hydrocarbons in the reactor";
perhaps a lot smarter things we could be doing with any by-product Carbon Dioxide.)
These clean -coal technologies allow coal-rich countries to benefit from their extensive coal reserves, working with the growing global shift towards more environmentally acceptable technologies and processes.
Sasol’s history began in 1927 when a Government White paper was tabled in Parliament for a formal investigation into the merits of establishing an oil-from-coal industry in South Africa. At the time, the Government expressed concerns about South Africa’s dependence on imported crude oil while having no known oil reserves of its own. The two biggest concerns were the need to protect the country’s balance of payment and to strengthen security of energy supply.
(They knew, mind you, all the way back "in 1927" that Coal could be converted into oil.)
In 1945, a South African industrial company, Anglovaal, asked the South African Government to create a fiscal dispensation to enable oil-from-coal to compete with conventional crude oil refining. After extensive research and negotiations, Anglovaal secured the licence needed to build and operate a Fischer-Tropsch oil-from-coal plant in South Africa. This company, however, was unable to secure a loan from the World Bank and abandoned its plans to develop a commercial oil-from-coal venture in South Africa.
The South African Government, however, continued its investigations into the feasibility of developing an oil-from-coal venture and formed a state-owned enterprise in 1950, the South African Coal, Oil and Gas Corporation (later to be renamed Sasol). Extensive government support at the time - and, again during the 1970s and 1980s - was essential for the establishment of what is still the only commercial coal based
synfuels industry in the world.
(That, really, is no longer true. As we've documented in a number of reports, for one example in:
West Virginia Coal Association | China Makes "Huge Profits" from Coal Liquefaction | Research & Development; concerning: "'China Coal Producer Reaps Huge Profits From CTL Project'; Shenhua Group, China's largest coal producer, has made huge profits from its pilot coal-to-liquid (CTL) project in north China in the first three months of this year, a company executive said";
China has established, and is establishing, a Coal-based synfuel industry; and, as noted in the above reference to the North Dakota Great Plains Gasification Plant; and, as we've reported on many times, but as reported separately by the USDOE in:
http://www.netl.doe.gov/technologies/coalpower/gasification/gasifipedia/6-apps/6-5_chemicals.html; concerning, in part: "'Eastman Coal-to-Chemicals Plant'; In addition to agricultural chemicals like ammonia and urea for fertilizer, methanol is a substantial product of coal-to-chemicals gasification worldwide. One of the earliest and most notable coal-to-chemicals plants in the United States is owned and operated by Eastman Chemical Company and based in Kingsport, Tennessee, where the plant produces methanol and acetyl chemicals, produced from methanol and carbon monoxide through a reaction called carbonylation. Acetic acid and acetic anhydride are commonly used in pharmaceutical and industrial applications and can be processed into products like paints, fibers, photographic film, tool handles, cigarette filters and more. Methanol also has important uses, as a fuel or fuel additive, for example. The Eastman coal-to-chemicals plant, first opened in 1983, was designed to process syngas from the gasification of Southwest Virginia and Eastern Kentucky coal into 500 million pounds per year of acetic anhydride and acetic acid, enough to supply half of Eastman’s raw acetyl needs. Acetyl chemicals are important to many of Eastman’s products, but especially those at the Kingsport site, where five of seven manufacturing divisions rely on acetyls as a raw material. The success of the operation led to a decision to expand the plant capacity to an excess of 1 billion pounds per year to meet all of Eastman’s needs, a testament to the ability of gasification to reliably, economically, and efficiently meet the coal-to-chemical requirements of Eastman’s Kingsport facility";we have, if not a Coal conversion industry, then at least the seeds of one in the United States.)
To ensure a reasonable rate of return for South Africa’s emerging synfuels industry particularly during down turns in the crude oil commodity cycles, the Government provided tariff protection and imposed a fuel levy.
To the South African Government’s benefit, the establishment of Sasol and the country’s synfuels industry increased energy self-sufficiency, provided employment opportunities, reduced crude oil imports and saved foreign exchange. In short, coal-based synfuels enabled the country to fulfil 30% of its fuel requirements.
Sasol has for many years been renowned for pioneering world-leading technologies to produce quality synfuels and petrochemicals from coal.
Through Sasol Synfuels International (SSI), Sasol is well positioned to develop and manage international synfuel ventures that incorporate the group’s competitive Fischer-Tropsch technology.
Working in partnership with Sasol Technology, SSI also continues to explore new opportunities to commercialise Sasol’s Fischer-Tropsch synthesis technology for beneficiating coal and other hydrocarbon resources, including biomass.
At its giant synfuels complex at Secunda in South Africa, Sasol converts more than 40-million metric tons of coal a year into liquid fuels, industrial pipeline gas and a range of chemical feedstock, including the building blocks for industrial solvents and polymers.
The Secunda site comprises two giant factories with a combined capacity equivalent to about 150,000 barrels a day.
Sasol’s Low-Temperature Fischer-Tropsch process is ideal for producing diesel from coal (through CTL conversion) and is the best option for a plant with a simple footprint. Sasol’s High-Temperature FT process, however, can be used to produce a slate of white products, as well as the building blocks for high-value chemicals. The LTFT CTL three step process integrates several proven processes starting with coal gasification and is followed by low-temperature Fischer-Tropsch synthesis – the heart of the process – and then downstream product upgrading.
Gasification: Coal is fed into giant gasifiers to produce raw gas, which is then purified into the synthesis gas needed for Fischer-Tropsch synthesis.
Fischer-Tropsch synthesis: Through the Fischer-Tropsch conversion process undertaken in unique low-temperature Fischer-Tropsch (LTFT) Slurry Phase reactors developed by Sasol, synthesis gas is converted into heavy hydrocarbons in the presence of a catalyst.
Product upgrading: The products created through Fischer-Tropsch synthesis can be upgraded using conventional, product-specific petrochemical upgrading processes, depending on the final slate of products required by the CTL plant operators. These processes include hydrocracking and chemical workup, as well as refining through a conventional petroleum refinery.
Sasol’s low-temperature Fischer-Tropsch process produces a superior-quality diesel that has virtually no sulphur. This diesel also has a very low aromatic content and a high cetane number, and the naphtha is suitable as a feedstock for a naphtha cracker."
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As far as what we might get out of a "naphtha cracker", processing what's left from a Coal conversion process after the "superior-quality diesel" has been extracted, have a look at:
Naphtha - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia; "Naphtha is used primarily as feedstock for producing high octane gasoline ... . When used as feedstock in petrochemical steam crackers, naphtha is heated in the presence of water vapour and the absence of oxygen or air until the hydrocarbon molecules break apart. The primary products of the cracking process are olefins (ethylene/ethene, propylene/propene and butadiene). When naphtha is used as a feedstock in catalytic reforming the primary products are aromatics including benzene, xylene and toluene. The olefins are used as feedstocks for derivative units that produce plastics (polyethylene and polypropylene for example), synthetic fiber precursors (acrylonitrile), industrial chemicals (glycols for instance) while the aromatics are used for octane boosting in fuel blending as well as polyethylene terephthalate, PET feedstock and paint and coating solvents."
All from Coal.
They are, right now, in essence, "Unlocking the Potential Wealth of Coal" in South Africa.
Why is it that we haven't even started fumblng for our keys, here, in West Virginia and Pennsylvania, and in all the rest of United States Coal Country?
We are missing out on "A Strategic Opportunity"