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Eastman marks 25 years in coal gassification
Kingsport Times News ^ | 06/14/08 | Sharon Caskey hayes

Posted on 06/16/2008 5:56:57 AM PDT by bert

Eastman marks 25 years in coal gasification Published 06/14/2008 By Sharon Caskey Hayes

KINGSPORT — In the 1970s, scientists, researchers and engineers at Eastman Kodak Co. started searching for ways to offset rising energy prices. The company’s operating costs were on the increase due to escalating oil and natural gas prices exacerbated by the oil embargo. Indeed, crude oil had jumped in price from $3 a barrel in 1972 to a whopping $12 a barrel by the end of 1974.

Eastman researchers began exploring other potential sources of raw materials to fill the company’s growing needs. And they didn’t have to look far.

In early 1980, Eastman executives held a press conference to announce the company would construct a major expansion in Kingsport to produce industrial chemicals from coal mined from the mountains of Southwestern Virginia.

(Excerpt) Read more at timesnews.net ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Extended News
KEYWORDS: alternateenergy; coal; coalgassification; energy; environment
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This is a long article describing the coal gas plant at Eastman Chemical Co in Kingsport Tennessee. Near the end it describes a much larger current Eastman coal gassification undertaking in Beaumont Texas.

Several of my friends, now retired, did the design way back when.

There are pictures on the web reference

1 posted on 06/16/2008 5:56:58 AM PDT by bert
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To: bert

Bump for later


2 posted on 06/16/2008 5:59:39 AM PDT by waiyu
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To: Red Badger; don-o

RB.....Perhaps you can ping the alternate fuels list.
Don-o kingsport ping

Although Eastman uses the coal gas to make their acetate feed stocks, the basic product of the gassification process is syngas that can be used in many other processes to make fuel for instance.

The plant they are building in Beaumont looks like a big big boost to the gassification technology.


3 posted on 06/16/2008 6:02:13 AM PDT by bert (K.E. N.P. +12 . The Bitcons will elect a Democrat by default)
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To: bert; sully777; vigl; Cagey; Abathar; A. Patriot; B Knotts; getsoutalive; muleskinner; ...
Rest In Peace, old friend, your work is finished.....

If you want ON or OFF the DIESEL ”KnOcK” LIST just FReepmail me.....

This is a fairly HIGH VOLUME ping list on some days.....

4 posted on 06/16/2008 6:03:31 AM PDT by Red Badger (NOBODY MOVE!!!!.......I dropped me brain............................)
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To: bert
For the synfuels lover in you...Great Plains Coal Gassification, since 1984
5 posted on 06/16/2008 6:17:00 AM PDT by Smokin' Joe (How often God must weep at humans' folly.)
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To: bert

>>Although Eastman uses the coal gas to make their acetate feed stocks, the basic product of the gassification process is syngas that can be used in many other processes to make fuel for instance.

I was behind a transit bus the other day, and it dawned on me that it was using CNG, not diesel. Obviously it could likely use this syngas as well.

While I’m pretty sure the CNG buses were purchased as a “reduce inner city pollution” measure, I wonder if, today, they’re cheaper to operate than diesel? Can anyone comment knowledgeably on this?


6 posted on 06/16/2008 6:18:45 AM PDT by FreedomPoster (<===Non-bitter, Gun-totin', Typical White American)
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To: Smokin' Joe

That is interesting. I wasn’t aware it existed.

There are almost weekly articles describing people studying the gassification process and its great promise. There is never any mention of the fact that such pants are alive and well, mature American technology, working pretty much flawlessly 24/7.

(I say American technology, because the old origins have been vastly upgraded and refined by American engineers.)


7 posted on 06/16/2008 6:25:57 AM PDT by bert (K.E. N.P. +12 . The Bitcons will elect a Democrat by default)
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To: Smokin' Joe
Practical Experience Gained During the First Twenty Years of Operation of the Great Plains Gasifi cation Plant and Implications for Future Projects (pdf file)

and from DOE: Pioneering Coal Gassification Plants

"In the 1970s, interest in coal gasification revived, due largely to concerns that the U.S. supply of natural gas was waning. The massive Great Plains Coal Gasification Plant in Beulah, North Dakota, was built with federal government support to use coal gasification to produce methane, the chief constituent of natural gas. When government price controls on natural gas were lifted, however, large quantities of natural gas became available, and no other coal-to-methane gasification plants have been built to date in the United States."

8 posted on 06/16/2008 6:30:35 AM PDT by Smokin' Joe (How often God must weep at humans' folly.)
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To: bert

Great story. It makes sense to own stock in this company.

BTW, I travel regularly down Rt 23 through E. Ky, western Virginia (Wise) and Tennessee on my way to Western Carolina. It is a beautiful route and the coal mining in the area has not made it dirty at all. It’s a beautiful area. The Kingsport and Johnson City area is very nice and very clean. The entire new I181 & I26 into Asheville is absolutely scenic, and I’d recommend the drive to anyone.

There is no evidence at all of any coal pollution.

Get this country off of foreign oil. Coal is the easiest, fastest, best answer.


9 posted on 06/16/2008 6:47:59 AM PDT by xzins (Retired Army Chaplain -- Those denying the War was Necessary Do NOT Support the Troops!)
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To: xzins

The use of CNG has grown rapidly overseas. It is an economic alternative to diesel.
If the US replaced all natural gas Electric Power Generation with nuclear, we would have plenty of gas to use in vehicles.
The tanks are larger than diesel, but the cost per BTU is now lower and could stay that way. The engines need to be a bit larger in cubes than a diesel, because of lower compression ratio, but perform ok with new electronic controls.


10 posted on 06/16/2008 6:53:46 AM PDT by Oldexpat
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To: Oldexpat

I agree with you totally.

If we were to launch a national objective, as with the moon launch, of getting off of foreign oil, we could accomplish it in a decade. It would be coal and nuclear based, and there’s plenty of oil and natural gas.

The economic benefits in jobs and in dollars that stayed home would be enormous.

In terms of international affairs, it would mark the end of easy money for jihadists.

You don’t put the guy who’s trying to kill you on an expense account. Simple common sense.


11 posted on 06/16/2008 7:02:49 AM PDT by xzins (Retired Army Chaplain -- Those denying the War was Necessary Do NOT Support the Troops!)
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To: FreedomPoster

CNG and propane are considerably cheaper than gasoline as auto fuel but CNG never caught on due to the lack of filling stations. Here in Toronto, most taxis run on propane; they’d never be able to make a living if they used gasoline.


12 posted on 06/16/2008 7:38:25 AM PDT by Squawk 8888 (TSA and DHS are jobs programs for people who are not smart enough to flip burgers)
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To: bert

Coal gasification is nothing new; until the 1950s most of the gas supply in major cities was produced from coal. “Manufactured gas” started to fall out of favour by the middle of the 20th century as natural gas became cheaper and more readily available.


13 posted on 06/16/2008 7:41:29 AM PDT by Squawk 8888 (TSA and DHS are jobs programs for people who are not smart enough to flip burgers)
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To: Squawk 8888

You are correct.

The point of this post was to emphasize it is not new.

If you read very recent press releases, you are led to believe that it is new to America. There have been such articles posted here touting new investigations that omit any reference to the fact there are gassification installations up and running on a regular day in day out basis.


14 posted on 06/16/2008 8:00:47 AM PDT by bert (K.E. N.P. +12 . The Bitcons will elect a Democrat by default)
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To: bert
If you read very recent press releases, you are led to believe that it is new to America.

I'm old enough to remember using "Coal Oil" in our lamps. This was interchangeable with kerosene.

I also remember reading in high school history about the German Army using fuel made from coal to propel their tanks and trucks in World War II.

15 posted on 06/16/2008 8:43:27 AM PDT by Retired COB (Still mad about Campaign Finance Reform)
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To: Retired COB

My mother referred to the kerosene heater as a coal oil stove.

Here’s a wiki article, turns out it comes from oil shale.

Coal oil
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
This article does not cite any references or sources. (January 2008)
Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

See also: Oil shale extraction
Coal oil is a specific oil shale oil used for illuminating purposes. It is sometimes confused with kerosene or lamp oil, but coal oil was obtained from the destructive distillation of cannel coal, mineral wax, and bituminous shale, and hence called coal oil. A special type of coal known as cannel coal (classified also as terrestrial type of oil shale) is required to produce it.

Coal oil was first produced in 1850 by James Young on the Union Canal in Scotland. He was the first to patent the process of distilling this cannel coal into kerosene. This industry thrived in Scotland creating much wealth for James Young.

It consists mainly of several hydrocarbons of the alkane series, having from 10 to 16 carbon atoms in each molecule, and having a higher boiling point (175–325°C) than gasoline or the petroleum ethers, and a lower boiling point than the oils.


16 posted on 06/16/2008 9:49:23 AM PDT by bert (K.E. N.P. +12 . The Bitcons will elect a Democrat by default)
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To: Squawk 8888

Is that on pure energy economics, or is a big part of it more favorable tax treatment for propane?

Interesting either way.


17 posted on 06/16/2008 10:06:24 AM PDT by FreedomPoster (<===Non-bitter, Gun-totin', Typical White American)
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To: FreedomPoster

Good question- I’m really not sure, but the price difference *appears* to be greater than the taxes on gasoline so there’s probably a slight edge anyway.


18 posted on 06/16/2008 10:10:07 AM PDT by Squawk 8888 (TSA and DHS are jobs programs for people who are not smart enough to flip burgers)
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To: Squawk 8888

I’m not sure what the historical reasons for it are, but I’m pretty sure Europe gives more favorable treatment for diesel than for gasoline, which is part of the reason diesels are so popular in Yurp.


19 posted on 06/16/2008 10:13:54 AM PDT by FreedomPoster (<===Non-bitter, Gun-totin', Typical White American)
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To: FreedomPoster

I think part of it has to do with the fuel itself- the better diesels require low-sulphur fuel, which was the standard in Europe long before it was mandated in North America. My understanding is that the diesel cars sold here were bloody awful while the vehicles available in Europe since the 1970s have been pretty good.


20 posted on 06/16/2008 10:59:23 AM PDT by Squawk 8888 (TSA and DHS are jobs programs for people who are not smart enough to flip burgers)
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