Record Display for the EPA National Library Catalog

RECORD NUMBER: 25 OF 44

Main Title SASOL, South Africa's oil from coal story : background for environmental assessment /
Author Anastai, J. L. ; Anastasi, J. L.
CORP Author TRW Environmental Engineering Div., Redondo Beach, CA.;Industrial Environmental Research Lab., Research Triangle Park, NC.
Publisher U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Industrial Environmental Research Laboratory,
Year Published 1980
Report Number EPA 600-8-80-002; EPA-68-02-2635
Stock Number PB80-148752
OCLC Number 08286548
Subjects Coal liquefaction--South Africa ; Synthetic fuels industry--South Africa
Additional Subjects Environmental surveys ; Coal liquids ; Assessments ; Coal gasification ; Design criteria ; Performance evaluation ; Fluidized bed combustors ; Air pollution ; Solid waste disposal ; Chemical composition ; Beds(Process engineering) ; Comaprison ; South Africa ; Foreign technology ; SASOL process ; Coal liquefaction
Internet Access
Description Access URL
https://nepis.epa.gov/Exe/ZyPDF.cgi?Dockey=9101HIE6.PDF
Holdings
Library Call Number Additional Info Location Last
Modified
Checkout
Status
EKBD  EPA-600/8-80-002 Research Triangle Park Library/RTP, NC 03/05/2004
ELBD ARCHIVE EPA 600-8-80-002 Received from HQ AWBERC Library/Cincinnati,OH 10/04/2023
ERAD  EPA 600/8-80-002 Region 9 Library/San Francisco,CA 02/19/2013
NTIS  PB80-148752 Some EPA libraries have a fiche copy filed under the call number shown. 07/26/2022
Collation iii, 36 pages : illustrations ; 28 cm
Abstract
The report describes the world's only oil-from-coal plant, known as SASOL, operated by South Africa since 1955. When almost $7 billion worth of expansion is completed in the early 1980s, three SASOL plants will produce a total of 112,000 barrels of oil per day, or about half of South Africa's needs. Production costs average $17 per barrel, well below the 1979 OPEC price of more than $20 per barrel. South African motorists pay about $2.40/gallon ($0.63/liter) of gasoline at the pump. SASOL converts to liquid fuels in two steps: (1) the coal is gasified with oxygen and steam under pressure to yield a mixture of reactive gases, and (2) after being cleaned of impurities, the mixture is passed over an iron-based catalyst in Fischer-Tropsch synthesis units to produce liquid fuels. SASOL's operation is helped by South Africa's abundance of cheap labor and low cost coal. The U.S., like South Africa, has vast coal reserves. Although comparisons are difficult, it has been estimated that oil could not be produced from coal in the U.S. for less than $27 per barrel and perhaps as much as $45. The South African system is the only commercially proven process for the production of synthetic liquid fuels. The report provides some of the background on a process that will receive high priority for environmental assessment.
Notes
"TRW, Inc." "EPA 600-8-80-002." "January 1980." Cover title. Includes bibliographical references (pages 34-35). "Contract no. 68-02-2635."