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Survey of Alternative Feedstocks for Commodity Chemical Manufacturing.

DE2008931080

Publication Date	2008
Personal Author	McFarlane, J.; Robinson, S. M.
Page Count	55
Abstract	The current high prices for petroleum and natural gas have spurred the chemical industry to examine alternative feedstocks for the production of commodity chemicals. High feedstock prices have driven methanol and ammonia production offshore. The U.S. Chemical Industry is the largest user of natural gas in the country. Over the last 30 years, alternatives to conventional petroleum and natural gas feedstocks have been developed, but have limited, if any, commercial implementation in the United States. Alternative feedstocks under consideration include coal from unconventional processing technologies, such as gasification and liquefaction, novel resources such as biomass, stranded natural gas from unconventional reserves, and heavy oil from tar sands or oil shale. These feedstock sources have been evaluated with respect to the feasibility and readiness for production of the highest volume commodity chemicals in the United States. Sources of organic compounds, such as ethanol from sugar fermentation and bitumen-derived heavy crude are now being primarily exploited for fuels, rather than for chemical feedstocks. Overall, government-sponsored research into the use of alternatives to petroleum feedstocks focuses on use for power and transportation fuels rather than for chemical feedstocks. Research is needed to reduce cost and technical risk. Use of alternative feedstocks is more common outside the United States R&D efforts are needed to make these processes more efficient and less risky before becoming more common domestically.
Keywords	Chemical feedstocks Surveys Fuels Ammonia Biomass Chemical industry Coal Ethanol Fermentation Gasification Implementation Natural gas Manufacturing Methanol Oil sands Oil shales Organic compounds Petroleum Prices Saccharose Viscosity
Source Agency	Technical Information Center Oak Ridge Tennessee
Corporate Authors	Oak Ridge National Lab., TN.; Department of Energy, Washington, DC.
Supplemental Notes	Sponsored by Department of Energy, Washington, DC.
Document Type	Technical Report
NTIS Issue Number	200825
Contract Number	DE-AC05-00OR22725

Survey of Alternative Feedstocks for Commodity Chemical Manufacturing.

Survey of Alternative Feedstocks for Commodity Chemical Manufacturing.
DE2008931080

Publication Date	2008
Personal Author	McFarlane, J.; Robinson, S. M.
Page Count	55
Abstract	The current high prices for petroleum and natural gas have spurred the chemical industry to examine alternative feedstocks for the production of commodity chemicals. High feedstock prices have driven methanol and ammonia production offshore. The U.S. Chemical Industry is the largest user of natural gas in the country. Over the last 30 years, alternatives to conventional petroleum and natural gas feedstocks have been developed, but have limited, if any, commercial implementation in the United States. Alternative feedstocks under consideration include coal from unconventional processing technologies, such as gasification and liquefaction, novel resources such as biomass, stranded natural gas from unconventional reserves, and heavy oil from tar sands or oil shale. These feedstock sources have been evaluated with respect to the feasibility and readiness for production of the highest volume commodity chemicals in the United States. Sources of organic compounds, such as ethanol from sugar fermentation and bitumen-derived heavy crude are now being primarily exploited for fuels, rather than for chemical feedstocks. Overall, government-sponsored research into the use of alternatives to petroleum feedstocks focuses on use for power and transportation fuels rather than for chemical feedstocks. Research is needed to reduce cost and technical risk. Use of alternative feedstocks is more common outside the United States R&D efforts are needed to make these processes more efficient and less risky before becoming more common domestically.
Keywords	Chemical feedstocks Surveys Fuels Ammonia Biomass Chemical industry Coal Ethanol Fermentation Gasification Implementation Natural gas Manufacturing Methanol Oil sands Oil shales Organic compounds Petroleum Prices Saccharose Viscosity
Source Agency	Technical Information Center Oak Ridge Tennessee
Corporate Authors	Oak Ridge National Lab., TN.; Department of Energy, Washington, DC.
Supplemental Notes	Sponsored by Department of Energy, Washington, DC.
Document Type	Technical Report
NTIS Issue Number	200825
Contract Number	DE-AC05-00OR22725