The opportunity of the world dealing with a “peak oil crisis” is now widely acknowledged as a and present danger in the fields of fuel and power.

Sadly, many attractive and broadly-touted alternate fuel programs — comparable to a protected and sensible hydrogen-primarily based transport gasoline system — will remain a dream until the distant future.

For that reason, many nations have been re-examining different transport gasoline applied sciences, such because the Coal-to-Liquids (CTL) technology, as a close to future source of transport fuels.

Coal-to-Liquids — that’s, the conversion of coal to liquid transport fuels — is in truth not new a expertise and has been practiced for quite a few many years in countries corresponding to South Africa and Germany and can quickly be adopted in China.

Essentially the most viable Coal-to-Liquids system requires the conversion of coal into a synthesis gas consisting of hydrogen and carbon monoxide after which its synthesis into lengthy-chain liquid gas molecules. These processes produce excess heat that can be utilized to generate electricity. The artificial petroleum products, and especially artificial diesel, have a number of distinctive environmental benefits. These advantages include the reduction of particulates, nitrogen oxides and fugitive aromatic hydrocarbon emissions of those associated with ‘pure crude’.

Though the know-how of CTL is properly understood, technological challenges relating to its software to particular coal and lignite (brown coal) assets exist. Lignite is normally a high moisture fuel with moisture contents of up to 65%, for instance the Victorian lignites have round 60% moisture. Lignites also can have high mineral matter (ash) content material and have high sulphur contents, say to 5%.

The economics of Coal-to-Liquids are that a crude oil worth of between $US40 – $US50 per barrel is required to offer situations where the process is viable. This infers that coal should be supplied at a comparatively low value; that favorable logistics similar to transport, entry to refineries and good proximity to markets exist; and that there’s a monetary and political will to invest in plant that can have over a thirty year manufacturing life. Industry wisdom is suggesting that the dimensions of profitable Coal-to-Liquids plants will likely be a minimum manufacturing of fifty,000 barrels per day of synthetic crude plus 400 MWe of power out there for export.

The introduction of CTL into the growing international locations of Asia which have suitable coal and/or lignite reserves makes good sense.

The alternative of traditional crude oil with CTL crude has positive financial, environmental and safety points for those nations. The co-technology of electricity will also be positive, as will the co-production of by-merchandise of sulphur, waxes and LPG (liquid petroleum gas).