Water consumption rates of synthetic fuel industries: a cross-reference guide to the open literature
Creators: name: Isaacson, Morton S.
Publisher: name: California Institute of Technology
Year: 1981

description: There is a great deal of controversy over how much water synthetic fuel industries will consume. Although this controversy can not be definitively settled until such industries are actually in operation, this report attempts to put it into perspective by summarizing, in an orderly fashion, the water consumption values for synthetic fuel industries found in a major portion of the open literature. Often the values stated in the literature are neither clearly delineated nor substantiated. In many cases they have been borrowed -- and reborrowed -- from earlier reports. A number of times this has led to seemingly independent reports having actually obtained their values, indirectly, from the same original source (as occurred in a recent, major National Science Foundation study). In addition, the values are often stated in different units in different reports, making comparisons awkward. This survey includes unit-water-requirement values for coal gasification (producing substitute natural gas - SNG), coal liquefaction, and oil-shale processing from over 150 references found Ln the open literature. These values have all been converted to one common set of units and are presented in this report in easily followed, chronologically arranged information flow charts. This makes it easy to compare values from different reports and to trace the values back to their origins. 

The primary conclusion drawn from this survey is that only a handful of key reports have been responsible for most of the water-use values appearing in the open literature. Based on the members of this subgroup which appear to be most reliable, the following "rule of thumb" is recommended: for water consumption by future synthetic fuel industries a "best guess" estimate is 80 m^3/10^(12) J (of product) and a conservative (high) "best guess" estimate is 110 m^3/10^(12) J.
description: © California Institute of Technology 1981. 

The author would like to express his appreciation to the following individuals whose assistance has made this project possible: Norman H. Brooks, Director of the Environmental Quality Laboratory, and Robert C.Y. Koh, Senior Research Associate in Environmental Engineering Science, for their interest, time and ever helpful advice; Fredrick H. Shair, Professor of Chemical Engineering, for his helpful comments; Rayma Harrison, Librarian of the Environmental Engineering Library, and her assistant, Gunilla Hastrup, for their tireless efforts in searching through the nooks and crannies where the "gray literature" hides; Theresa Fall and Phil Dube for turning out such legible charts and figures; and Marcia Nelson, Mickey Gray and Jeri Lucas for their typographical prowess. I would also like to thank Randy Koster and Sara Stage, undergraduate research assistants, who helped with the early stages of the research. 

Funding for this project was provided, in part, by the United States Department of Energy, the EXXON Education Foundation, the Bechtel Corporation, and the General Service Foundation.