2777.     RATCLIFF, J. D.  All the Gas We Need.  Collier’s, Nov. 24, 1945, p. 16.

        Pilot plant built by Hydrocarbon Research, Inc., for the production of gasoline from natural gas by the Fischer-Tropsch process, has operated so successfully that a $15,000,000 commercial plant is to be constructed this year at Carthage, East Texas.  This plant when completed will produce 5,00 bbl. of 80-octane gasoline, 1,000 bbl. of Diesel oil, and 200,000 lb. of crude alcohols per day.  The plant will consume 65,000,000 ft.³ of gas and 40,000,000 cu. ft. of O₂ per day.  The process as developed obtains the necessary synthesis gas in the right proportions of CO:2H₂ by burning CH₄, natural gas, with O₂.  The O₂ for the process is produced, it is said, for $0.05 per 1,000 cu. ft., this low cost being made possible by utilizing the exothermic heat from the Fischer converter in heat exchange relation to produce the power for operating the compressors and other equipment in the O₂ plant.  It is expected that the cost of the gasoline will compete with that produced from petroleum.