Synthetic gas and oil

The Library of Congress study has these comments on synthetic oil and gas from coal. "For the past several years, there has been renewed interest in converting coal, which is so plentiful, into liquid and gaseous fuels which are not plentiful from domestic sources. The major products under consideration are solvent refined coal (SRC), oil from coal, synthetic natural gas, and medium- and low-Btu gases. The Department of Energy (and its predecessor agency, ERDA), many parts of the Congress and a number of private interests have been involved."... 

Because oil and gas ate not renewable resources, at some point in time alternative feedstocks will become attractive however, this point appears to be fat in the future. Of the alternatives, only biomass is a renewable resource (see Fuels frombiomass). The only chemical produced from biomass in commercial quantities at the present time is ethanol by fermentation. The cost of ethanol from biomass is not yet competitive with synthetically produced ethanol from ethylene. Ethanol (qv) can be converted into a number of petrochemical derivatives and could become a significant source. 

The use of renewable resources for manufacturing specific performance and speciality chemicals, and for fibres to replace synthetic ones, is growing. The driver for this is improved cost/performance. In order to have a major impact on the amount of oil and gas used there is a need to convert biomass into new, large-scale basic feedstocks such as synthesis gas or methanol. Many technical developments in separation science as well as improvements in the overall yield of chemicals are required before renewable feedstocks can compete effectively with oil and gas, but the gap will continue to narrow. 

V. L. Kuznetsov, G. A. Lyubitskaya, E. 1. Kolesnik, E. N. Kazakova, B. M. Kurochkin, and V. N. Lobanova. Plugging solution for isolating absorption zones in oil and gas wells—contains prescribed synthetic latex, water soluble salt of methacrylate-methacrylic acid copolymer as additive, and water. Patent RU 2024734-C, 1994. 

Petroleum, natural gas, and synthetic fuels are excluded from the definition of a hazardous substance, and the definitions of pollutants and contaminants under CERCLA this is known as the Petroleum Exclusion. Although the EPA has the authority to regulate the release or threatened release of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant, the release of petroleum, natural gas, and synthetic fuels from active or abandoned pits or other land disposal units is currently exempt from CERCLA. Such sites cannot use Superfund dollars for cleanup, nor can the EPA enforce an oil and gas operator, landowner, or other individual to clean up a release under CERCLA. Substances exempt include such materials as brine, crude oil, and refined products (i.e., gasoline and diesel fuel) and fractions. 

In mass terms our present oil consumption, 2 million barrels/day, amounts to about 300,000 tons/day. (Little wonder that, on a ton/mile basis, oil and gas transport is the largest single commodity being moved around). When you start talking of synthetic fuels (or of semisynthetic fuels like oil from tar sands... 

Terrens, G.W., Gwyther, D., Keough, M.J. and Tait, R.D. (1998) Environmental of synthetic based drilling mud discharges to the Bass Strait Australia. Proceedings of SPE International Conference on Health, Safety and Environment in Oil and Gas Exploration and Production Caracas, Venezuela, 7-10 June 1998. 

Thus, energy policy makers face an exceptionally severe challenge. They must find politically acceptable ways to produce and market the remaining oil and gas resources in quantities and at prices which do not impair the capabilities of the industrialized world to manage the transition to inexhaustible energy forms. They must determine the path of the transition Is it to rely primarily on the still abundant coal, bitumen and marginal hydrocarbon resources in conjunction with synthetic fuels and a moderate increase in electrification Or, is it to follow a high electrification scenario based on coal and/or nuclear fission ... 

The prospects for this resource have been known for over 100 years and research on the production of oil and gas from this type of rock has been conducted since the resource was first discovered. However, a commercial retort that would produce synthetic fossil fuel products in amounts comparable with the traditional sources of these products has never been built in the United States. The current technological interest in oil shale is the third time this resource has had such an intensive appraisal. Because of energy and mineral shortages, the prospects for development appear favorable. However, during the current appraisal, environmental considerations have been added to the questions to be answered before this new industry is developed. Consequently, recovery of fuel from oil shale is one of a few industrial processes which permits... 

The main problem, however, with biomass as it is available now is that at an industrial scale, most current energy conversion equipment is designed to operate on fossil fuels and at a domestic scale, most if not all stoves are for wood or charcoal use and will not operate properly on these residues. Thus there is a need for a means for converting residues into synthetic coal, oil and gas which could be utilized in existing equipment. Pyrolysis, especially low temperature pyrolysis, which favors char and oil production, offers a particularly promising means of conversion, since the char and oil products are storable and easily transportable-an especially attractive characteristic in developing countries. 

The Fischer assay is a standardized laboratory test in which an oil shale sample is retorted at 500°C to determine its oil yield. It provides a measure of the grade of oil shale being processed. Commercial processes such as The Oil Shale Corporation s TOSCO II process give oil recoveries (synthetic crude or syncrude) of up to 100% of the Fischer assay. Oil and gas formation from... 

The impact of the oil and gas companies on the American chemical industry was indeed profound. Under the pressure of the crash programs for high-octane gasoline and, to a lesser extent, synthetic rubber, these firms created... 

The 1999 KPMG International Survey of 1100 companies reported that 18% of the CERs found were independently verified, compared with 15% in 1996. However, the 1999 survey was deemed to be more critical as it did not allow verification statements from EMS certification to be used in the marking of CER verification as they do not relate to the report as a whole. The three leading sectors for verified CERs were oil and gas (32%), utilities (25%) and chemicals and synthetics (18%). In country terms, the UK leads the way with 53% of CERs independently verified, followed by Finland with 33%. Countries outside Europe, particularly the USA and Japan, had very few of their CERs verified. 

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