3593.     WALKER, S. W.  Manufacture of Synthetic Gasoline.  Oil Gas Jour., vol. 46, No. 8, 1947, p. 126; Nat. Petrol. News, vol. 39, No. 26, 1947, p. 44.

        Paper presented at Midwest Regional Meeting, American Chemical Society, Kansas City.  Improvements in the Fischer-Tropsch process and use of low-cost natural gas and O₂ have resulted in an economic process for the synthesis of gasoline and byproduct chemicals.  The substitution of a fluidized Fe catalyst for the German fixed Co catalyst has resulted in better heat control, higher-quality gasoline, fewer undesirable products, and lower investment costs.  Production of the synthesis gas by partial combustion of natural gas is an innovation which depends on cheap O₂ from the modified Linde-Fränkl process and is a more efficient process than CH₄ reforming or the steam and coke method.  It is estimated that 360,000 lb. per day of crude, H₂O-soluble chemicals will be produced in each of the 2 plants now under construction.  These consist primarily of alcohols, aldehydes, acids, and ketones and are found mostly in the H₂O stream from the oil-recovery section from which they may be separated into the various components.  The oil stream also contains oxygenated compounds of the same general type having 4 or more C atoms; these are less important industrially at the present time, since their availability in quantity is limited.  However, the development of satisfactory recovery and separation processes for these compounds will encourage investigation of their commercial uses.  The chief end product of the process is, of course, gasoline, which can be produced in the form of an approximate 80-octane no. fuel in competition with natural petroleum products of equivalent quality, taking into account operating and amortization costs with natural gas at prevailing prices.  It is indicated that the investment for a synthetic oil plant is approximately $3,000-$3,500 per daily bbl. of hydrocarbon products, or less than half the corresponding figure for the German plants.

        ----------.  See abs. 2069.

        WALLIS, A. E.  See abs. 2308.

        WALTER, K.  See abs. 1088, 1089.