COAL CONVERSION TECHNOLOGY-ASSESSMENT

A system of processes for producing major petrochemicals was investigated in order to assess the economic aspects of introducing the coal conversion technology as an alternative to the conventional petrochemical technology. As coal conversion technology offers several alternative processing routes for producing major petrochemicals, a mathematical model of the system was used to generate optimum structures associated with different locations. The relative importance of direct, as well as of indirect coal liquefaction processes was discussed considering variations in cost factors.