Carthage Hydrocol

Fluidized Catalyst Reactor. Two systems have been proposed, based on large scale operation of the Fischer-Tropsch process (to produce liquid hydrocarbons) at SASOL and at Carthage Hydrocol. The SASOL system was designed by M. W. Kellogg and has been operating for about 20 years (57, 58, 59, 60). 

The Carthage Hydrocol system was designed by Hydrocarbon Research it operated about 10 years before it was shut down in 1957. The... 

After the Second World War a gas-to-liquids facility that employed an iron-based high-temperature Fischer-Tropsch (Fe-HTFT) process was constructed at Brownsville, Texas. The technology was developed by Hydrocarbon Research, Inc.,20 and the commercial facility was operated by the Carthage Hydrocol Company. The Hydrocol plant was in commercial operation during the period 1951-1957, and it was shut down mainly for economic reasons (the oil price was around US 2 per barrel at that time). 

Hydrocol A process for making gasoline from natural gas. Partial combustion with oxygen yields syngas, which is catalytically converted to gasoline in a fluidized bed containing an iron catalyst. Developed by Hydrocarbon Research, and commercialized by Carthage Hydrocol in Brownsville, TX, in 1950. 

Hydrocarbon Research Inc., elected partial oxidation for the Carthage Hydrocol plant at Brownsville. After initial experiments that Hydrocarbon Research conducted at Olean, New York, The Texas Company assumed responsibility for further development of partial oxidation at its Montebello, California, laboratory, under duBois ( Dubie ) Eastman. For conversion of natural gas to gasoline by Fischer-Tropsch synthesis, partial oxidation s advantage over steam-methane reforming lay in its ability to operate at a pressure approximating that of the synthesis, thereby essentially eliminating need for compression of synthesis gas. 

Although nearly any combustible fuel can be used as a source of Fischer-Tropsch synthesis gas, coal is by far the most common. A long-term agreement made prior to construction made available a supply of natural gas at 0.05 per thousand cubic feet for the Carthage Hydrocol Company plant. With greatly increasing demand for natural gas, however, it is unlikely that plants producing purely synthetic liquid fuete will be based tai natural gas in the United States. New supplies of natural gas at the well are currently about 15-20 cents per thousand cubic feet, and the price will inevitably continue to increase. 

The first post-war FT plant was operated in the early 1950s by a consortium lead by Texaco operated the 4 500 bpd Carthage Hydrocol plant in Brownsville, Texas. Natural gas was used as feedstock, making this the first GTL plant. The primary product for this iron catalyst based HTFT process was the production of 82 octane gasoline (10). The process scheme for this plant is shown in Figure 2. 

Figure 2 - Process Scheme of the Carthage Hydrocol plant in Brownsville, Texas...

Brownsville, Texas (5). The first postwar commercial FT plant built by Carthage Hydrocol at Brownsville came online in 1951 and operated till 1957. The plant s capacity was about 0.3 Mt per year. Syngas was produced by reforming methane, that is, it was a gas to liquid (GTL) plant. The plant was shut down... 

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