3522a.     ---------------.  [UNITED STATES ARMY ENGINEER CORPS.]  Synthetic Liquid Fuel Potential of the United States.  Report for the Bureau of Mines, March 3, 1952.  Chem. Eng. News, vol. 30, 1952, p. 2,101.

        Report based on a survey of the United States and Alaska by Ford, Bacon and Davis, Inc. to the Army Corps of Engineers.  The survey reveals that there are sufficient available supplies of coal, oil shale, and natural gas in suitable general areas in 25 States to produce 226.4 billion bbl. of synthetic liquid fuels by the hydrogenation of coal, or 195.3 billion bbl. by the synthine (Fischer-Tropsch) process.  An additional 781.1 million bbl. of liquid fuels could be obtained from natural gas by the Fischer-Tropsch method, while 99.4 billion bbl. are obtainable by retorting oil shale.  In other words, available coal supplies could yield 15.5 million bbl. of liquid fuels per day by hydrogenation or 13.4 million bbl. per day by the synthine process, plus 6.8 million bbl. per day by retorting oil shale, for a period of 40 yr.  Natural gas could add 107,000 bbl. per day by the synthine process for 20 yr.  Plant sizes adapted are 10,000 bbl. of synthetic liquid fuels per day for coal hydrogenation.  Fischer-Tropsch process for coal, and retorting of oil shale; and 5,000 bbl. per day of natural gas for the Fischer-Tropsch plant for natural gas.  The report indicates that there are 37 States with significant resources of these 3 raw materials plus oil-impregnated material.  The following factors were considered in selecting suitable areas:  H₂O supply, power, access transportation, labor, housing, marketing and products transportation, waste disposal, plant investment, processing costs and strategic considerations.  Only those areas with respect to coal were selected which had 60 million ton of recoverable coal in a 3-mile radius.  The coal must have a minimum calorific value of 4,500 B.t.u. per lb.  Other limitations included thickness of beds and depth of overburden.  Because of these limitations, the suitable areas include only about 10% of the minable coal as estimated by the Federal Geological Survey.  Basic criteria for oil shale were the existence of 200 million ton in a 5-square-mile area.  The primary shale also must yield 15 gal. of oil per ton with 15 gal. per ton for the secondary shale.  Bed thickness was limited to 25 ft. or more.  The natural gas minimum requirements were 225 trillion B.t.u. in a 40-mile radius (primary) and 225 trillion B.t.u. (secondary).  The gas in a 20-mile radius must have a minimum calorific content of 700 B.t.u. per ft.³ and that in the 40-mile radius must have a content of 400 B.t.u. per ft.³  The report also covers estimated costs of plants, manufacturing, and coal production.  It also includes a large number of charts and tables.