The hybrid plant concept: Combining direct and indirect coal liquefaction processes

The objective of this study is to assess the technical and economic impacts of siting direct two-stage coal liquefaction and indirect liquefaction, using slurry Fischer-Tropsch (F-T) reactors, at the same location. The incentives for this co-siting include the sharing of the large number of common unit process operations and the potential blending of the very different, but complementary, products from the two processes, thereby reducing the refining required to produce specification transportation fuels. Both direct and indirect coal liquefaction share a large number of unit operations. This paper reports on the results of a study that attempts to quantify the extent of these potential synergisms by estimating the costs of transportation fuels produced by direct liquefaction, indirect liquefaction, and by combined direct and indirect hybrid plant configuration under comparable conditions. The technical approach used was to combine the MITRE computer simulated coal liquefaction models for the direct and indirect systems into one integrated model. An analysis of refining and blending of the raw product streams to produce specification diesel and gasoline fuels was included in the direct, indirect and hybrid models so that comparable product slates could be developed. 8 refs., 8 figs., 2 tabs.