Macroware Technology
Fischer-Tropsch (FT) Process Breakthrough
posted Thursday, 20 April 2006
I never heard of the Fischer-Tropsch process before I saw this article linked from Yahoo news today. Apparently this process was invented in the 1920s for converting coal or other carbon based materials into diesel fuel. For the most part, diesel fuel is currrently created through the refining of liquid petroleum (oil). The Fischer-Tropsch process has been more expensive than oil as a source of diesel fuel and its use has been limited to nations who have been under oil embargos such as South Africa. The process is becoming more viable with the high cost of oil, and the United States has very large reserves of coal.
Apparently researchers at Rutgers and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have come up with a way to improve the process even further by using new types of catalysts. In a quick internet search, I found one company called Rentech that is currently using Fischer-Tropsch process technology to produce diesel fuel and other useful raw materials. They are using iron as a catalyst instead of the traditional cobalt. There is some interesting information on Rentech's web page about the process and advantages. The article about the Rutgers and Chapel Hill advances is not specific on the details of what they're using as a catalyst or how they have improved the process.
Another advantage of diesel fuel produced through the Fischer-Tropsch process over the oil to diesel process is that it has less sulfur content which contributes to environmental pollution.
The Rutgers article makes one other interesting point that I wasn't aware of, and that is that coal is a more abundent energy source than oil or natural gas. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), the U.S. has 275 billion short tons of coal reserves available. The known oil reserves world wide could be up to 1292.55 billion barrels according to the U.S. Department of Energy. The known natural gas reserves world wide could be up to 6997.767 trillion cubic feet according to the same source.
Also according to the EIA, the following are conversion factors for oil and coal to energy content:
1 short ton of coal = 20,754,000 BTU
1 barrel of oil = 5,800,000 BTU
1 cu ft. of natural gas = 1031 BTU
The following table summarizes the energy content of these reserves.
There's almost as much energy in coal in the U.S. as there is in oil world wide. Coal energy reserves exceed oil and natural gas reserves combined.
Apparently researchers at Rutgers and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have come up with a way to improve the process even further by using new types of catalysts. In a quick internet search, I found one company called Rentech that is currently using Fischer-Tropsch process technology to produce diesel fuel and other useful raw materials. They are using iron as a catalyst instead of the traditional cobalt. There is some interesting information on Rentech's web page about the process and advantages. The article about the Rutgers and Chapel Hill advances is not specific on the details of what they're using as a catalyst or how they have improved the process.
Another advantage of diesel fuel produced through the Fischer-Tropsch process over the oil to diesel process is that it has less sulfur content which contributes to environmental pollution.
The Rutgers article makes one other interesting point that I wasn't aware of, and that is that coal is a more abundent energy source than oil or natural gas. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), the U.S. has 275 billion short tons of coal reserves available. The known oil reserves world wide could be up to 1292.55 billion barrels according to the U.S. Department of Energy. The known natural gas reserves world wide could be up to 6997.767 trillion cubic feet according to the same source.
Also according to the EIA, the following are conversion factors for oil and coal to energy content:
1 short ton of coal = 20,754,000 BTU
1 barrel of oil = 5,800,000 BTU
1 cu ft. of natural gas = 1031 BTU
The following table summarizes the energy content of these reserves.
| Energy Source | Total Reserves (as of 2004-2006 time frame) | Energy Content (BTU) | % of Total Energy Content of Coal / Oil / Natural Gas |
| U.S. Coal Reserves | 275 billion short tons | 5.71 * 1018 |
16.0 % |
| World Wide Coal Reserves | 1000.912 billion short tons |
2.08 * 1019 |
58.4 % |
| World Wide Oil Reserves | 1292.55 billion barrels |
7.59 * 1018 |
21.3 % |
| World Wide Natural Gas Reserves | 6997.767 trillion cubic feet | 7.21 * 1018 |
20.3 % |
There's almost as much energy in coal in the U.S. as there is in oil world wide. Coal energy reserves exceed oil and natural gas reserves combined.
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