A New Look At The Small Gasifier

During the 1920's, approximately 11,000 small gasifiers were in operation in the United States. They converted about 15 million tons of coal per year into low Btu gas. In some cases, hot raw gas was used for applications such as firing open hearth furnaces or brick kilns. In other cases the gases produced in the gasifiers were cooled, cleaned and desulfurized for various utility and industrial purposes. The steel industry was by far the largest user. The most important fact was that the conversion of coal to a usable fuel gas was demonstrated to be commercial. During the late 1940's and early 1950's, this form of energy was largely replaced by natural gas as the pipeline net work was expanded. Producer gas was no longer economically competitive. Over the past twenty-five (25) years, government controls on the interstate price of natural gas have maintained this situation. At present only three commercial small coal gasifier plants are still in operation in the United States. These facilities are operated by the Glen-Gery Corporation which is located in eastern Pennsylvania; the National Lime and Stone Company which is located at Carey Ohio; and Holston Defense Corporation which is located at Kingsport, Tennessee. There are, however, numerous operating gasifiers in other parts of the world. Recent events indicate that this situation is changing. The quantity of domestic natural gas available to the interstate market has been declining at the same time that demand for all forms of energy has been increasing. The current potential market for gas with a heating value ranging from 100 to 500 Btu per cubic feet has been estimated at sixteen (16) quads (16 x 1015 Btu) per year. This is expected to grow to twenty (20) quads by the year 2000.