Hydrocarbon Synthesis and Hydroformylation

Background. Concern over the greatly increasing consumption of petroleum has, since World War II, created new interest in the i thesis 

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. 

Reserves of natural gas in the United States are presently estimated at 223,697 billion cu ft. At the production rate during l 955 of 10,118 billicm cu ft, a 22-year supply of gas is indicated at pteseut. Domestic petroleum reserves, including natural-gas liquids, are estimated at 35,481 million bbl. The domestic petroleum production, including natural-gas liquids, in 1955 was 2,737 million bbl, indicating a 13-year supply at the present consumption rate. Estimates of the reserves of oil diule range from the 

Percentage of total Btii contributed by several sources of energy.  

In 1954, coal production reached its lowest postwar level of 392 million tons. In 1955, production climbed to 470 million tons, and in 1956 the estimated production was 545 million tons. Barring major economic upheavals, there is strong reason to bdieve that coal production will increase steadiy in the future. 

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