Coal Liquefaction — Impact on the Petroleum Refiner

An examination of three coal liquefaction technologies exemplified by Fischer-Tropsch, Mobil MTG and SRC-II is made with respect to product quality, yields and their ability to produce products compatible with existing refinery requirements. Indirect liquefaction via Fischer-Tropsch and Mobil MTG were found to produce acceptable products after blending but with a yield structure incompatible with the declining gasoline to distillate ratio in today’s market. Direct liquefaction while producing a more flexible boiling range product was found to be totally unacceptable to conventional refinery processing units. This would necessitate the development of dedicated upgrading technology, after which it is expected that acceptable gasoline and jet fuel could be produced.