Probstein: Water Synthesis Fuel Product (Paper)

In a period when easily extractable sources of relatively clean energy are dwindling worldwide and becoming increasingly expensive, the development of new energy sources--compatible with society's existing technology--has become both an urgent national priority and an increasingly competitive commercial venture.One promising source is the manufacture of synthetic fuels from coal and oil shale. A major constraint is that the processes involved require considerable amounts of water--a once-"free" commodity that is itself becoming increasingly scarce and expensive in many areas. "Water in Synthetic Fuel Production" explores both the promise and the constraints that are involved in the large-scale synthesis of such fuels.The authors summarize the problem and the intent of their book as follows: "Plants to manufacture synthetic fuels from coal and oil shale require large quantities of fresh water and produce large quantities of dirty water. In the United States this poses a problem: much of the easily mined coal and almost all of the high-grade oil shale are in the arid West, and local and temporal water shortages sometimes occur where coal supplies are located in the East. In all regions the discharge of contaminated water is constrained by environmental considerations. In this book we have endeavored to present the practically available technology that can be incorporated in synthetic fuel plants to minimize water consumption and pollution. The book is intended to be a guide to understand the role water plays in synthetic fuel production and includes the basic concepts underlying water usage and water treatment in this context...."The book is directed to a wide audience including those responsible for planning energy development, those involved with the engineering and design of synthetic fuel plants, and students and others who desire a background in synthetic fuel production. The book is formally self-contained and all the material--encompassing the disciplines of chemical, mechanical, civil, environmental, and mining engineering--should be accessible to anyone with an undergraduate degree in engineering or the physical sciences."The book describes the various methods of producing synthetic fuels, and the technologies and costs involved in "not" using water. For alternative economic constraints and different levels of water availability, the technologies involved in minimizing the need for water, and in reusing and recycling water, are applied to the manufacture of different synthetic fuels. For a given level of fuel production, the book demonstrates how to calculate the water consumption and the residual solid wastes in various regions of the country.The authors conclude that, applying the criteria of water availability alone, a relatively high level of synthetic fuel production can be supported in the principal coal and shale regions of the United States, excepting only the most arid areas and those where water is already largely allocated.