Fuels production costs

Direct burning is clearly less costly than gasification, which, in turn, is much less costly than liquefaction (Table XI). (The U.S. Dept, of Energy (25) has recently estimated similar liquid fuel production costs.)... 

The DOE attempt at standardized analyses as done by C. F, Braun is not the complete answer. Only the five processes in the DOE/AGA development program plus Lurgi dry-bottom were included and C. F. Braun s caveat on the capital cost estimates is significant since capital related costs are a substantial portion of the synthetic fuel product costs. 

Based on Supplementary Report of SubccHumittee on Synthetic Fuels—Production Costs to National Petroleum Council, 1953 27,000 barrel-per-day capacity. Based on 1951 investment costs and labor rates. 

Secunda discharges no process water effluents. AU. water streams produced are cleaned and reused in the plant. The methane and light hydrocarbons in the product are reformed with steam to generate synthesis gas for recycle (14). Even at this large scale, the cost of producing fuels and chemicals by the Fischer-Tropsch process is dominated by the cost of synthesis gas production. Sasol has estimated that gas production accounts for 58% of total production costs (39). 

In addition to the fixed capital investment needed to purchase and install process equipment and auxiliaries, there is a continuous expenditure referred to as operating cost, which is needed to operate the process. The operating cost (or manufacturing cost or production cost) includes raw materials, mass-separating agents, utilities (fuel, electricity, steam, water, refrigerants, air, etc.), catalysts, additives, labor, and maintenance. The total annualized cost of a process is defined as follows ... 

Bridgwater, A. V., and. Double, J. M. (1994). Production Costs of Liquid Fuels from Biomass. International Journal of Energy Research 18 79-95. 

Cement production demands major amounts of fuel. Energy costs can be upwards of 25% of their turnover. Therefore, many cement kilns in the UK, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland and other countries have started to use pretreated waste streams as a fuel. This not only saves fuel input, but indeed often allows a charge for the treatment of waste. In principle, cement kilns can deal with the following types of waste ... 

Cost of a product for component j is based on a fuel/product basis ( IP = Cjp f, so that the total cost of products is (Erlach et al., 1999)... 

The industry also accomplished these feats while keeping production costs competitive with coal, and well below those of other fuels, including new natural gas plants. 

Studies of fuel production from various biofuels at a scale and cost representative of biomass fuel chains in various regions in Europe, thereby rendering realistic data for future production potential on a European scale. 

Considering the prospective hydrogen production cost, the main conclusion is that these still have to be decreased to compete with fossil fuel-based technology, and improved performance in this respect can be obtained by... 

Fuel cells could become a major player in our energy future. In order to see more cars on the road that are fuel cell vehicles, many obstacles and challenges will have to be overcome, but there does not seem to be anything that is insurmountable. The cost of specialized materials is dropping and higher-volume manufacturing will bring production costs down. 

The U.S. Department of Energy has a major program in the Solid State Energy Conversion Alliance to bring about dramatic reductions in fuel cell costs. The goal to cut costs to 400 per kilowatt by the year 2010 would make fuel cells competitive for most power applications. The objective is to develop a modular, all-solid-state fuel cell that can be mass-produced for different products in the same way as electronic components are made. 

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