The economical production of alcohol fuels from coal-derived synthesis gas. Quarterly technical progress report No. 4, July 1, 1992--September 30, 1992

A base case flow sheet for the production of higher alcohols from coal derived synthesis gas has been completed, including an economic analysis. The details of the flow sheet and economics are in Appendix 1. The pay back period for the capital investment for the plant has been calculated as a function of the market price of the product, and this figure is also shown as Figure I in Appendix 1. The estimated installed cost is almost $500 MM, and the estimated annual operating cost is $64 MM. At a price in the vicinity of $1.00/gal for the alcohol product, the pay back period for construction of the plant is four years. These values should be considered preliminary, since many of the capital costs were obtained from other paper studies sponsored by DOE and TVA and very few values could be found from actual plants which were built. This issue is currently being addressed. The most expensive capital costs were found to be the gasifier, the cryogenic air separation plant, the steam/power generation plant and the acid gas/sulfur removal processes taken as a whole. It is planned to focus attention on alternatives to the base case. The problem is that it is less expensive to make syngas from natural gas. Therefore, it is essential to reduce the cost of syngas from coal. This is where the energy park concept becomes important. In order for this process to be economical (at current market and political conditions) a method must be found to reduce the cost of syngas manufacture either by producing energy or by-products. Energy is produced in the base case, but the amount and method has not been optimized. The economic arguments for this concept are detailed in Appendix 2.