TITLE: Preliminary Assessment of Environmental, Health, and Safety Issues in Coal Liquefaction.

AUTHOR: V. P. Gutschick.

INST.  AUTHOR: Los Alamos Scientific Lab., NM.

SPONSOR: Department of Energy, Washington, DC.

LANGUAGE: English

PUB.  TYPE: Technical Report

PUB.  COUNTRY: United States

SOURCE: Department of Energy [DE],  Oct 80,  56p.

ABSTRACT:

Preliminary quantitative estimates are derived for hazards, both to workers and the general public, which would arise from deploying various technologies of coal liquefaction. The total fuel cycle, from resource extraction through end-use of fuels, and the quantities of hazardous agents generated per unit of end-use energy are considered. Particular attention is paid to airborne emissions of nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides, carbon dioxide, and particulates; carcinogenic hydrocarbons in bulk fuel, in process wastes, and in exhaust streams from combustion of the fuel; pollutants degrading water quality; and water and land use. Noted are specific characteristics of coal and of liquefaction that temper the rates of pollutant emission per unit of end-use energy, and some quantitative measures of relative risks and benefits are proposed. In general, coal liquefaction is predicted to increase pollutant emissions significantly, although indirect liquefaction via Fischer-Tropsch or Mobil processes is relatively clean. Carbon dioxide appears to be the most significant long-term impact, principally because the modest increase in CO sub 2 emission rate caused by liquefaction may disproportionately increase the difficulty of phasing out global CO sub 2 emissions if such reduction can be demonstrated to be necessary to prevent climatic degradation. Land use and water use by liquefaction, which is currently of public concern, is estimated as locally significant but not critical. Liquefaction would bring a few new occupational hazards such as metal carbonyl emissions; relative to alternative energy technologies, it would increase some conventional occupational hazards while decreasing others. Total occupational hazards would be less significant than the public hazards already noted. (ERA citation 06:015245)

CONTRACT  NUMBER: W-7405-ENG-36