Coal to liquids process 3

[HariAugustine]

A friend of mine would like to build a process to convert coal into a it's liuid form. Basically, gasify it and then liquify it. What I would like to know is; what will be the supporting industries that will be required to facilitate profitable operation of the process? I realise that this a broad question and any suggestions and thoughts will be appreciated.

 

[JLSeagull]

See the response in your other thread.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coal

 

[BigInch]

A very big environmental permit.

http://virtualpipeline.spaces.msn.com

"What gets us into trouble is not what we don't know, its what we know for sure" - Mark Twain

 

[mbeychok]

HariAugustine:

... to facilitate profitable operation of the process ...

I don't know who your friend is, but if he wants to build a profitable industrial scale plant, he is going to need a few billon U.S. dollars (and a billion means 10[sup]9[/sup] ).

The South African company of SASOL and the Royal Dutch Shell company are the leading designers and licensors in the field of producing synthetic crude oil from either coal or natural gas.

Milton Beychok
(Visit me at www.air-dispersion.com)
.

 

[Jobst]

You can get quite a nice view of SASOL's Secunda facility on Google Earth, mainly due to the impressive size of everything.

Take a gander at the size of their tailings ponds/water treatment/air separation plants, which can all be spotted if you know what to look for.

 

[rconner]

[Some other folks who may be doing work to similar end may be e.g. Iowa State University/Conoco Phillips and GM et al.]

 

[bzandy]

As I know, one of Chinene province is cooperating with SASOL for setting up a joint venture to pursue the Coal to Oil programme, but the inventment budget is incredibe high! Normally, the investment on the coal to oil pragramme is 6~9 times of conventional refinery investment equivalently. So, you mentioned your friend wanna set up this kind of facilities, he has to at least be a billionnaire firstly!

 

[bzandy]

At the same time, is there anybody can provide some material to introduce this coal to oil technology? which country now plays the main role in this field? I heard from the internet that this technology is quite new, few country can handle this application. Thanks!

 

[moltenmetal]

bzandy: this process is far from new. F-T was invented in the 1930s. The only thing that's new is the soaring cost of oil which makes this suddenly of interest to nations not under embargo.