589.    ---------------.[COKE AND GAS.]  Gasification Processes Compared.  Vol. 9, 1947, p. 319; Rev. en. Gaz., vol. 69, No. 2, p. 44, 8 pp.

      Summarizes information published in Germany in 1942 by Koppers concerning the complete gasification of lignite dust, coke fines, and the like.  Particular attention is drawn to heat balances and cost data, and comparisons are made between the Koppers process and conventional carbonization of coal in a coking plant followed by gasification of coke in gas producers.  Heat balances are shown – one for the gasification of powdered lignite using O₂, for the production of synthesis gas, and the other without O₂.  The gasification efficiency for each, respectively, is 86.9% and 74.5%.  These figures compare with 68.8% for synthesis gas made by gasification of pulverized coal, details of which are given in the original article.  Cost comparisons indicate that the conventional method is about 10% cheaper than the Koppers method in the manufacture of fuel gas; and when reduced to standard coking coal, the fuel consumption of the Koppers process per unit volume of synthesis gas is substantially higher than that of the conventions 2-stage process.  Allowing for the indirect fuel consumption in the manufacture of O₂, the efficiency of the Koppers process is said to fall below 50%.