The alkyl, naphthenic, or total carbon atoms of the functional groups at alpha position to aromatic rings and their hydrogen to carbon ratio are some of the important parameters for structural analysis of fossil fuel products. The Brown-Ladner concept for the atomic hydrogen to carbon ratios at alpha, and beta and gamma positions is over twenty-five years old and, in spite of its very approximate nature, is still being used by both Proton and Carbon-13 Nuclear Magnetic Resonance analysts. In this paper, we present a number of novel formula-structure relationships for precise determination of different carbon atom types at alpha position to aromatic rings and the average number of hydrogens per alpha-carbon.

Glavinčevski, Boris, Gülder, Ömer L., Gardner, Leslie

Production Technology in Japan During Ten Years of War (1938 - 45)

881608

10/1/1988

During the Ten-Year War 1935-1945, the Japanese Navy played a leading role in the R&D and production of domestic aviation fuels and high-grade lubricants, by means of technological imports from abroad (mainly from the U.S.A.) at the beginning and of self-development in the latter part of the period. One of the features is a hydrogenation process, which was started with catalyst development and successfully achieved production in large-scale plants. The efforts also achieved certain self-sufficiency in high-grade lubricants that had been dependent on imports.

Katoh, Fusanosuke

Comparative Economics of Methanol and Gasoline

87206111/1/1987

The world has large reserves of crude oil and gas; but they are concentrated mainly in the Middle East. Eventually, economic and political factors will force the U.S. to use new domestic feedstocks for manufacturing liquid motor fuels. Among the possible alternatives are synthesizing methanol from natural gas or coal or making gasoline from coal by direct liquefaction. Methanol synthesized from domestic natural gas in a new, plant at current gas prices using demonstrated technology would cost 30% more than gasoline for equal vehicle miles. However, a program to make large amounts of methanol would likely raise gas prices. The higher feedstock cost would make the methanol even more expensive and possibly cause the methanol industry to move overseas where gas is cheaper. Because the U.S. has large reserves of coal, making methanol from coal is not likely to disturb existing supply arrangements nor raise the cost of coal significantly. However, processing to make methanol from coal is complicated and thermodynamically inefficient, and making methanol from coal would cost almost three times as much as gasoline for equal vehicle miles. Although research on direct coal liquefaction has been modest during recent years, it has yielded major technology improvements. Manufacturing gasoline from coal using demonstrated technology would use available domestic resources effectively and would be much more economical than manufacturing methanol from coal. Nonetheless, gasoline made from coal would be nearly twice as expensive as gasoline made from crude oil at current prices. We believe that government money being made available for promotion of alternative vehicle fuels would be better spent on improving processes for manufacturing alternative fuels--such as coal liquefaction--than on “demonstrating” vehicle performance on methanol-based fuels.

Wagner, T.O., Tatterson, D.F.

Synthetic Gasolines and Diesel Fuels from Processing of Shale Oils and Coal Liquids

86154210/1/1986

Seven test fuels were provided to research projects in the Department of Energy Alternative Fuels Utilization Program. Currrent refining technology was applied for conversion of shale- and coal-derived feedstocks to gasolines, diesel fuel, and turbine fuel. Hydrogenation was used in all four processing sequences, supplemented by catalytic reforming, distillation, and blending as needed to meet the product objectives. Major operating conditions are described for each process step. Laboratory analyses are provided for feedstocks, intermediates, and final products.

Sefer, Norman R., Erwin, Jimell

An Overview of the Methods for Structural Analysis: Proton NMR and GC-MS of Middle Distillate Aromatic Fractions

852079

10/1/1985

An overall comparative view of the analytical methods for hydrocarbon type and structural group (CHn n = 0-3) analysis of middle distillate fuels is presented. The inadequacy of traditional ASTM methods (e.g. n-d-M D3238, FIA D1319, MS D3239 and D2425) associated with the inability to relate the fuel composition to combustion performance has provided an incentive to use alternative techniques. This incentive will increase as conventional crude quality decreases and synthetic crudes become more widely used, HPLC. GC-MS and NMR techniques have emerged not only as essential tools for research but also in routine use for an excellent characterization of fuel composition-ignition quality relationships. The characterization of diesel fuel aromatic fractions by 1H NMR and GC-MS is discussed in detail.

Glavinčevski, Boris, Gardner, Leslie