Practicality of alcohols as motor fuel

Conference · Tue Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1980 · SAE Prog. Technol.; (United States)

OSTI ID:6610155

Wagner, T O ^[1]; Gray, D S; Zarah, B Y; Kozinski, A A

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1. Amoco Oil Co., Chicago, IL

An economical and abundant feedstock for methanol manufacture is North Dakota lignite. In a plant consuming lignite and self-sufficient in utilities, energy in the methanol would represent about 45% of the energy in the feedstock. The cost of energy from the methanol produced would be about twice that from gasoline at 1979 prices. Liquefaction of lignite or coal to a synthetic crude with subsequent refining by conventional processes would provide motor fuel at somewhat higher energy efficiency and lower cost than by methanol synthesis. Municipal solid wastes could also be used as feedstock for methanol manufacture, but the cost would be even higher than with lignite as feedstock. The lowest cost and most abundant feedstock for ethanol manufacture is corn. With current farming and ethanol manufacturing practices, energy in the ethanol plus that in the byproducts is only about 55% of the energy in the petroleum fuels consumed. If the ethanol plant used only nonpetroleum fuels, the efficiency based on just the petroleum fuels used in farming and collection of wastes would range from 130 to 160%; overall efficiency would remain at 55% or less. Energy in the byproducts represents about 40% of the energy output. The cost of energy from the ethanol produced would be at least four times that from gasoline. While both methanol and ethanol have characteristics that complicate distribution and detract from product quality, poor energy yield and high cost are the most serious deterrents to commercialization of either alcohol. Methanol is definitely preferred, but neither represents a practical alternative unless the price of petroleum-based fuels rises markedly relative to that of the alcohols.

• OSTI ID: 6610155
• Conference Information: Journal Name: SAE Prog. Technol.; (United States) Journal Volume: 19
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT
010500 -- Coal
Lignite
& Peat-- Products & By-Products
09 BIOMASS FUELS
090221 -- Alcohol Fuels-- Chemical Synthesis-- (1976-1989)
090222 -- Alcohol Fuels-- Preparation from Wastes or Biomass-- (1976-1989)
10 SYNTHETIC FUELS
33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS
330800* -- Emission Control-- Alternative Fuels
ALCOHOL FUELS
ANTIKNOCK RATINGS
AUTOMOTIVE FUELS
BROWN COAL
CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS
CEREALS
CHEMICAL PROPERTIES
COAL
COMMERCIALIZATION
COST
DATA
EFFICIENCY
ENERGY
ENERGY ANALYSIS
ENERGY SOURCES
ENGINES
ETHANOL FUELS
EVALUATION
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
FOSSIL FUELS
FUEL SUBSTITUTION
FUELS
GRAMINEAE
GRASS
HEAT ENGINES
INFORMATION
INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES
LIGNITE
LIQUEFACTION
MAIZE
MATERIALS
METHANOL FUELS
NET ENERGY
NUMERICAL DATA
PLANTS
PRODUCTION
SYNTHETIC FUELS
THERMOCHEMICAL PROCESSES