COAL GASIFICATION AT A PROFIT

How did the Germans run a war without a drop of crude oil?

They synthesized oil, gasoline and other hydrocarbons from coal. Several such processes of coal gasification and liquefication are known, and they have come a long way since the German version of the thirties (for details, see the Scientific American, March 1974). With trillions of tons of coal, why is the US not using this method?

It is using it, but at present only in a few pilot projects, such as that run by the Institute of Gas Technology in Chicago. There are several reasons why the process is not, or not yet, being used on a large scale in the US. One of the big questions is this: Can it be made economically profitable?

In a totalitarian economy, this is not an important consideration. The economy is not based on the profit motive, but on decrees and regimentation. The Soviet Union, which has been running some of the German gasification plants gained as war booty, makes its own workers and those of its colonies work for 10 hours to earn the money for a pound of coffee, 2 hours for a gallon of gasoline, 15 hours for a pair of shoes; and subsidized by such extortionary prices, it can well afford to embark on unprofitable ventures.

But can coal gasification be made profitable in a capitalist economy?

Yes, it can. There is at least one plant in the world run at a profit: the SASOL plant in Sasolburg near Johannesburg in South Africa, owned by the South Africa Coal, Oil and Gas Corporation, and built by the M.W. Kellog Co. of Houston, Texas. It uses the Lurgi process, followed by two catalytic processes, to turn crushed coal into pipeline and liquid gas, diesel oil. heating oil, gasoline, tars for roads, ammonium sulfate and other fertilizers. and a large number of other petrochemicals, including other fuels and raw materials for plastics.

The plant and auxiliary facilities employ 8,000 people. The water needed for the process is taken from the Johannesburg water reservoir and after pollution control treatment, it is returned to the reservoir.

The plant is not only run at a profit, but it has made South Africa self-sufficient in most of the fuels and chemicals produced by SASOL, and it has enabled the country to export substantial quantities of some of them. The main parts of the plant have been in operation for more than 20 years. Production is not labor-intensive, so whatever your opinions on apartheid (and we don't like it, either), the success of the plant cannot be attributed to cheap black labor.

South Africa has no significant domestic sources of crude oil, and therefore little choice in ensuring its independence in a predominantly hostile world.

In the US, coal gasification is moving off the ground only very slowly. There are a few technological bugs to be ironed out, but the main issues are economic and political. The price of oil has now risen to a level where coal gasification has become economically attractive, but companies are understandably reluctant to invest billions in an industry whose fate is uncertain in the present mood of Congress (witness the strip mining bills now in conference of the House and Senate). There is also the possibility or the Arabs running such an industry out of business by slashing oil prices in half, which would still leave them with more profits than they know what to do with. On top of that, the few companies who do intend to enter the field have to contend with dogged environmentalist opposition to this cleanest of all uses of coal.