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A Texas company says that it has developed a cheaper and cleaner way to convert natural gas into gasoline and other liquid fuels, making it economical to tap natural-gas reserves that in the past have been too small or remote to develop. The company behind the technology, Dallas-based Synfuels International, says that the process uses fewer steps and is far more efficient than more established techniques based on the Fischer-Tropsch process. This process converts natural gas into syngas, a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide; a catalyst then causes the carbon and hydrogen to reconnect in new compounds, such as...

In 1943, when Germany had virtually no sources of petroleum to fuel its Luftwaffe, U-boats, and Tiger tanks, its scientists (arguably among the best in the world at that time) didn’t turn to solar and wind power. Evil does not equate to naïveté. Hitler’s technical advisers turned to another energy source to keep their Wehrmacht running steadily for several years without petroleum. They used the Fischer-Tropsch process to convert coal into diesel fuel and employed the Bergius hydrogenation (or liquefaction) process to convert coal into aviation gasoline and high-quality truck and automobile gasoline.Coal-to-liquid TechnologiesGasoline and diesel fuel are hydrocarbons....

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas) -- India's Ministry of Coal has received 22 applications in response to the bidding process it commenced early last month for the allocation of captive coal blocks for coal-to-liquid (: 36.06, -0.16, -0.44%) projects. Industry majors hopeful of securing captive coal mines include the Tata Group (Mumbai), Reliance Industries Limited (BOM:500325) (Mumbai) and Reliance Power Limited (BOM:532939) (Mumbai). RIL had sent in an $8 billion investment proposal to set up a CTL project with a capacity of 80,000 barrels per day (BBL/d) of oil and requiring 1.5 billion tons of coal...

Later this year, a plant in China will begin churning out liquid fuel made from coal, a technology that -- if all breaks right for the coal industry -- is headed to American shores. From the CTLtec Americas 2008, which begins today at the Omni William Penn Hotel, Downtown, to Capitol Hill, coal-to-liquids is a popular topic, spurred by rising gasoline prices and this country's ever-present need to wean itself from oil imports. Coal-to-liquid proponents insist that the technology would strengthen national security and be a cheaper alternative than current petroleum. Estimates vary widely, but Richard Bajura, director of the...

WASHINGTON, DC. — With gas prices continuing to linger above $4 per gallon going into the July 4th congressional break, Congressman Harold “Hal” Rogers urged Speaker Nancy Pelosi to immediately bring an end to a shortsighted prohibition, which denies federal agencies from contracting for or using coal-derived fuels. Rogers joined like-minded Members of Congress in signing a discharge petition to bring up legislation to repeal Section 526 of the Energy Independence and Security Act. “With skyrocketing gas prices, it is absurd the reticence of Speaker Pelosi and her leadership team to deny consideration of diversifying our fuel stock and easing...

With a $10-million seed grant from the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), the University of Dayton Research Institute (UDRI) will collaborate with AFRL to construct and operate the country’s first federal research facility designed to create jet fuel from coal and biomass in a program aimed at creating a viable alternative to petroleum-based fuel. The award will also fund research into coal- and biomass-derived fuel technologies for greater fuel efficiency and reduced environmental impact. It will be the first such research facility in the United States, and it will be available for use by any research team in the country....

US Senator Pete Domenici (R-NM), ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, introduced the American Energy Production Act of 2008 (S.2958) to increase domestic production of oil and natural gas and to fund the development of oil shale and coal-to-liquids technology. Eighteen other senators co-sponsored. Included in the bill is language for a coal-derived fuels mandate. The bill would open up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) as well as the Atlantic and Pacific regions of the Outer Continental Shelf for exploration and production; and lift the one-year moratorium on developing oil shale in Colorado, Wyoming...

Sasol’s synthetic jet fuel is derived from four synthetic streams: Iso-paraffinic kerosene, Heavy naptha kerosene, Light distillate #1 and Naptha #2. Sasol’s synthetic jet fuel, produced by its proprietary Coal to Liquids (CTL) process, has received approval for full, unblended use in international commercial aviation. Sasol’s fully synthetic jet fuel (FSJF) is the first such fuel to be approved. For the past nine years, Sasol has supplied a semi-synthetic jet fuel—a mixture of CTL components with petroleum-derived kerosene—to international airlines operating from OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg. Based on the success of the alternative fuel blend and following...

On a wind-swept air base near the Missouri River, the Air Force has launched an ambitious plan to wean itself from foreign oil by turning to a new and unlikely source: coal. The Air Force wants to build at its Malmstrom base in central Montana the first piece of what it hopes will be a nationwide network of facilities that would convert domestic coal into cleaner-burning synthetic fuel. Click Here! Air Force officials said the plants could help neutralize a national security threat by tapping into the country's abundant coal reserves. And by offering itself as a partner in...

MTG is one of the pathways for converting syngas to transportation fuel. Both the Fischer-Tropsch and MTG processes are 3-step processes. Thermal efficiencies are essentially governed by the thermal efficiencies of the syngas production process and feed. Click to enlarge. Source: ExxonMobil and Uhde DKRW Advanced Fuels (DKRW) has selected ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company’s (EMRE) methanol-to-gasoline (MTG) technology as part of DKRW’s coal to liquids (CTL) project in Medicine Bow, WY. DKRW recently stated that it has switched the initial finished product of its planned CTL plant from diesel to gasoline. The Medicine Bow project will gasify the...

Researchers at Penn State University are investigating several coal-to-liquid processes that differ from traditional direct (Bergius) and indirect (Fischer-Tropsch) liquefaction. The new pathways could introduce coal-derived chemicals or coal into existing oil refinery operations for the production of end products including jet fuel, gasoline, diesel, heating oil and carbon anodes. The primary focus of the work, which is funded by the Department of Energy, is the development of a coal-based replacement for conventional jet fuel. The coal-to-jet fuel work is in the pilot-plant stage, but along with the jet fuel, the processes produce other hydrocarbon products. For every eight barrels...

Representative Rick Boucher (D-VA), Chairman of the Energy and Air Quality Subcommittee, and Representative John Shimkus (R-IL), this past week introduced a bill to promote the use of coal-to-liquids (CTL) transportation fuels. The legislation would establish price certainty to provide incentive for investment in CTL facilities. The legislation introduced by Representatives Boucher and Shimkus would enable the Department of Energy (DOE) to enter agreements with up to six coal liquefaction projects for the purpose of establishing price parameters which will provide the projects with a federal price guarantee. Under the legislation, if the price of crude oil falls below an...

Chemists at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) have demonstrated the feasibility of the solar splitting of carbon dioxide into carbon monoxide and oxygen. Because their device is not yet optimized, they still need to input additional energy for the process to work. However, they hope that their results, which they presented at last month’s meeting of the American Chemical Society, will draw attention to the promise of the approach. For every mention of CO2 splitting, there are more than 100 articles on splitting water to produce hydrogen, yet CO2 splitting uses up more of what you want...

One of the possible configurations of the proposed H2CAR process. Purdue University chemical engineers have proposed a modification to the conventional biomass- or coal-to-liquids Fischer-Tropsch process that could, by their calculations, produce sufficient fuel for the entire US transportation sector. Their process, however, relies on an abundant supply of hydrogen—between 239 and 276 billion kilograms of hydrogen per year—to produce 13.8 million barrels of synthetics per day. The new approach—which the researchers call a “hybrid hydrogen-carbon process,” (H2CAR)—proposes co-feeding a gasifier with hydrogen from a carbon-free energy source, such as solar or nuclear power, and CO2 recycled from the syngas...

The Billings Gazette reports that the head of BNSF Railway Co. has sent an engineering team to Montana to analyze a possible coal-to-liquids project. In September 2006, BNSF and Tenaska, an independent energy developer, announced they were conducting a joint feasibility study including the exploration of multiple locations for the siting of commercial-scale, Fischer-Tropsch coal-to-liquids (CTL) facilities to produce an assured supply of cleaner diesel fuel at stable prices. BNSF’s 6,300 locomotives burned 1.4 billion gallons of diesel in 2005. As part of the project analysis, BNSF signed an agreement with Syntroleum Corporation to purchase quantities of Fischer-Tropsch diesel fuel...

US Senators Jim Bunning (R-KY) and Barack Obama (D-IL) have re-introduced a piece of legislation that would help create the infrastructure needed for large-scale production of Coal-to-Liquids (CTL) fuel in the US. The proposed “Coal-To-Liquid Fuel Promotion Act of 2007” is based on the bill first introduced by Senators Bunning and Obama last spring and expands tax incentives, creates planning assistance, and develops Department of Defense support for a domestic CTL industry. The Coal-to-Liquid Fuel Promotion Act of 2007 enables the Department of Energy to provide loan guarantees for construction and direct loans for the planning and permitting of CTL...

The Indian government’s Investment Commission has concluded that Coal-to-Liquids (CTL) is feasible in India and recommended to the Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, that it should become an integral part of India’s strategy for oil security. The Prime Minister has decided to set up an Inter-Ministerial Group within the Planning Commission to further examine the proposal and recommend a timebound action plan. In its presentation, the Investment Commission noted that India will need to import more than 90% of its oil in the future, and that new domestic discoveries of oil and gas are not expected to alter that figure...

EDWARDS AFB - Testing to prove the suitability for military and commercial aircraft of an alternative jet fuel made from natural gas checked off another successful mission last week, this time with the Air Force Flight Test Center's commander at the controls. Maj. Gen. Curtis Bedke piloted the B-52 test aircraft during the Dec. 15 mission, the first using only the synthetic-fuel blend in all eight engines. The six-hour test mission was designed to determine fuel consumption and put the bomber through operational flight paces. This included a low-level route and low-altitude bomb run, aerial refueling, formation flight, a high-altitude...

...While the president spent much of last week promoting energy alternatives of the future, like hybrid cars and fuels made from wood chips, the governor of Montana, Brian Schweitzer, says there's something we can have up and running in the next five years. What he has in mind is using the coal, billions of tons of it, under the high plains of his home state. The governor tells correspondent Lesley Stahl he wants to use an existing process to turn that coal into a synthetic liquid fuel, or synfuel...... "We can produce this fuel for about $1 a gallon. We...