Lead-free gas feasible but costly, UOP says It is technically feasible to eliminate lead compounds entirely from gasoline without reducing quality, according to Universal Oil Products Co. president John O. Logan. But the economics are formidable. Nevertheless, Mr. Logan implies, refiners may have to switch to unleaded fuels if ever-more-stringent emission standards are to be met and if industry is unable to come up with catalytic emission control devices which work satisfactorily with leaded gasoline. Expanding on remarks he made early last December at a California Assembly subcommittee hearing on air pollution, Mr. Logan says that costs of conversion appear to be less than earlier estimates had shown. Not everyone would agree with his current figures; even Mr. Logan admits that the price would still be high— both in production costs and added capital investment—and someone (the consumer) would have to pay it. Lead poisoning. One way to cut air pollution from automobiles is to use catalytic converters to oxidize unburned hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide in exhaust gases. Converters have been developed that can reduce hydrocarbon emissions 80% and cut carbon monoxide emissions more than half. The catch is that they work well only when the automobiles burn unleaded gasoline. The lead in leaded fuels poisons the catalyst, and converter efficiency drops to an unsatisfactory level. Almost all the gasoline sold in the U.S. has had its octane rating boosted by the addition of tetraethyllead. Recently, though, Mr. Logan says, "The tendency of automobile companies to produce engines requiring ever-increasing gasoline quality seems to have diminished. W e believe technology has reached the point where it is quite possible to make gasolines without lead which will perform as well as, and in some respects better than, current products using lead. Obtaining this additional quality can, however, only be done by increases in capital and operating expenses which raise certain economic problems." In 1968, an American Petroleum Institute task force estimated that switching to unleaded gasoline could add as much as 2.3 cents per gallon in production costs and require added capital investments of as much as $3 billion nationwide. Mr. Logan's latest estimates are more optimistic, but still high. For a typical 90,000 barrel-perday refinery, he figures that total elim-
ination of lead—by applying refining techniques already in commercial use—would require additional production costs of slightly less than 1 cent per gallon. He notes that one oil company (American) already markets a lead-free premium gasoline for about 1 cent a gallon more than leaded fuels of similar octane ratings. The UOP head points out that the cost for partial lead removal is proportionately less than for total elimination: "A 60% reduction to 1 ml. [per gallon] shows a cost of about 0.4 cent per gallon, while removal of the final 1 ml. would add an additional 0.5 cent per gallon." Nonlinear. Capital requirements show similar nonlinearity, Mr. Logan says. The typical 90,000-barrel refinery would need a capital investment of less than $1 million to reduce the lead level to 2 ml. from a base of 2.5 ml. But costs would soar to more than $7 million for a 1-ml. level and to nearly $14 million for complete removal. Nationwide, total elimination would take about $2 billion in added capital investments, UOP estimates. "The problem of capital supply represents a serious deterrent to a change in refinery practice," Mr. Logan warns, "particularly in the present period of short money supply." Also, he cautions, complete conversion would take at least four or five years, and cost figures should probably be adjusted upward to allow for continuing inflation. Mr. Logan notes further that his estimates are averages. Actual costs would vary, he says, depending on such factors as refinery size, nature of crude stock, and labor costs. Regardless of when or whether lead is eliminated from gasoline, Mr. Logan believes that "The time is not far distant when catalytic devices will be required to meet increasingly restrictive emission standards." Currently, he says, UOP research is concentrated on developing lead-resistant catalysts, and also on low-cost catalyst units which could be replaced when performance deteriorates. Meanwhile, the Ford-managed Inter-Industry Emission Control (IIEC) group is working along similar lines. Started in April 1967 by Ford and Mobil Oil (later joined by other auto makers and oil refiners), IIEC was slated to run for three years. Now it appears that the program will be extended at least to December 1970, a Ford spokesman reveals. In addition to catalytic converters for oxidizing hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide, IIEC is also working on reduction of nitrogen oxides and on other, noncatalytic approaches to emission control (C&EN, Nov. 25, 1968, page 13).
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Cellulases and Their Applications Advances in Chemistry Series No. 95 Twenty-five papers from a symposium by the Division of Cellulose, Wood, and Fiber Chemistry of the American Chemical Society, chaired by George J. Hajny and Elwyn T. Reese. This book stresses the practical application of cellulolytic systems in such diverse fields as biochemistry, animal nutrition, textiles, and forest product utilization. Topics include new mechanisms for cellulose degradation, the cellulase complex, structure and morphology of cellulase, new methods of investigation, a commercial enzyme process, wood-derived products as nutritional sources, and the applications and production of cellulases. 460 pages with index Cloth bound (1969) $14.50 Set of L.C. cards with library orders upon request Postpaid in U.S. and Canada; plus 30 cents elsewhere. Order from Special Issues Sales American Chemical Society 1155 Sixteenth St., N . W . Washington, D. C. 20036 JAN. 12, 1970 C&EN
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