SYNTHETIC LIQUID FUELS - A LITERATURE SURVEY.

The present stage of development of processes for producing synthetic liquid fuels is reviewed. The processes nearest to commercial operation are those producing liquid fuels from coal by direct hydrogenation. Heat from a nuclear reactor could be supplied to the endothermic water-gas reaction for generating hydrogen to be used in the direct hydrogenation process. Cellulosic wastes, from agriculture or from municipal garbage, could partially replace coal as a raw material for synthetic fuels. In the long term the most attractive solution appears to be the use of hydrogen for industrial and commercial heating, metallurgical reduction and transportation. Nuclear energy could be used to generate hydrogen from water, by electrolysis or by a thermochemical route. The reaction of hydrogen with carbon dioxide, recovered from the atmosphere, could be used to produce methanol or liquid hydrocarbons.