Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Science 2 January 1981:
Vol. 211. no. 4477, pp. 11 - 16
DOI: 10.1126/science.211.4477.11
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Articles

Synthesis Gas: A Raw Material for Industrial Chemicals

Roy L. Pruett 1

1 Senior research associate at the Corporate Research Science Laboratories of Exxon Research and Engineering Company, Linden, New Jersey 07036

Rapid increases in the price of imported crude oil have accelerated a shift in the raw material base for chemical feedstocks from natural gas to crude oil to coal. Widespread use of ethylene as a feedstock has depended on the availability at attractive prices of natural gas and petroleum. As the resource base shifts from natural gas and petroleum to coal, ethylene is being replaced by synthesis gas (a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide of varying composition), which can be manufactured directly from any of these carbonaceous sources. This trend is expected to accelerate in the 1980's. Organics likely to be produced from synthesis gas include ethanol, ethylene glycol, and vinyl acetate.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Single-carbon chemistry of acetogenic and methanogenic bacteria.
J. Zeikus, R Kerby, and J. Krzycki (1985)
Science 227, 1167-1173
   Abstract »    PDF »
Actinide Organometallic Chemistry.
T. J. Marks (1982)
Science 217, 989-997
   Abstract »    PDF »
Hydrogen Storage Materials: Properties and Possibilities.
R. L. Cohen and J. H. Wernick (1981)
Science 214, 1081-1087
   Abstract »    PDF »
Chemicals from Biomass: Petrochemical Substitution Options.
E. S. Lipinsky (1981)
Science 212, 1465-1471
   Abstract »    PDF »


To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)