17.     ----------------. [ALDEN, R. C.]  Conversion of Natural Gas to Liquid Fuels.  Petrol. Refiner, vol. 25, No. 11, 1946, p. 194; Petrol. Processing, vol. 1, 1946, p. 246.

               Abstract of a paper presented before the California Natural Gasoline Association.  German developments in the conversion of coke and brown coal to liquid hydrocarbons, applied to natural gas, would result in a motor fuel costing about $0.19 per gal.  A number of developments in the several processes, however, including cheap O₂, large bed reactors, improved catalysts, and fluidized catalytic operations will probably reduce the cost to as low as $0.05 per gal.  These, with the larger scale of American operations, have already resulted in preliminary construction work on 2 commercial installations (Brownsville, Texas, and western Kansas) and several other installations, where natural-gas reserves and other conditions are favorable, are anticipated.