Karrick Process - Economic Viability

Economic Viability

Oils, including petroleum, have long been extracted from coal. Production plants were merely shut down in the 1880s because crude oil became cheaper than coal liquefaction. The capability itself, however, has never disappeared. Eight years of pilot plant tests by Karrick attest that states, cities or even smaller towns, could make their own gas and generate their own electricity.

A 30 ton plant and oil refinery will show a profit over and above all operating and capital costs and the products will sell at attractive prices for equivalent products. The private sector should require no subsidies, but not in competition with those who skim off the oil from coal and sell the residual smokeless fuel to power plants.}

The cheapest liquid fuel from coal will come when processed by LTC for both liquid fuels and electric power. As a tertiary product of the coal distilling process, electrical energy can be generated at a minimum equipment cost. A Karrick LTC plant with 1 kiloton of daily coal capacity produces sufficient steam to generate 100,000 kilowatt hours of electrical power at no extra cost excepting capital investment for electrical equipment and loss of steam temperature passing through turbines. The process steam cost could be low since this steam could be derived from off-peak boiler capacity or from turbines in central electric stations. Fuel for steam and superheating would subsequently be reduced in cost.