2. Location and Production of Commercial F-T Plants in Germany.
During the war, Germany suffered from a great shortage of hydrocarbons, and the oil produced via FT represented a substantial part of the total domestic production as can be seen from the following table:
| Source of Product | Total Capacity | |
| Tons/Year | % | |
| H.P. Hydrogen’n | 3,918,000 | 60.1 |
| FT Synthesis | 591,000 | 9.1 |
| German Crude | 1,920,000 | 29.5 |
| Bituminous Coal Tar | 36,000 | 0.5 |
| Brown Coal Tar | 50,000 | 0.8 |
| @ | 6,515,000 | 100.0 |
@ Data from Dr.Buetefisch, Secretary Oil Section German Industry.
These figures give the installed capacity of the plants. It must be understood that Allied bombing substantially reduced production during the last years.
The first firm to operate FT plants was Ruhrchemie A.G. who sponsored the development of the process and exercised some control over all other plants through license and catalyst preparation and regeneration. There under direct Ruhrchemie control. In the next table is given a list of the F-T plants which operated in Germany (a small unit is operated by the Kuhlmann Co. at Harnes, France, 11,000 T/Year.GERMAN FISCHER-TROPSCH PLANTS
|
Name of Operator |
Location |
Capacity |
M tons/month - Avg. Monthly Prod |
||||
|
Tons/Yr. |
% |
Motor Gasoline |
Diesel Fuel |
Wax & Kogasin |
Lube Oil |
||
|
Ruhrchemie |
Holten, Ruhr |
72,000 |
12.0 |
2.1 |
0.8 |
1.4 |
1.2 |
|
Gewerkschaft "Viktor" |
Castrop-Rauxel, Ruhr |
40,000 |
6.8 |
1.5 |
1.0 |
0.8 |
- |
|
Rheinpreussen L.u. GH. |
Moers, Ruhr |
70,000 |
1.8 |
2.8 |
2.1 |
1.1 |
0.2 |
|
Krupp Benzin |
Wanne-Eickel, Ruhr |
60,000 |
10.2 |
2.2 |
1.1 |
1.7 |
- |
|
Hoesch Benzin |
Dormund, Ruhr |
47,000 |
7.9 |
0.5 |
1.2 |
2.0 |
0.2 |
|
Braun Hohle Benzin A.G. |
Ruhland, Saxony |
170,000 |
29.2 |
8.4 |
2.5 |
3.1 |
- |
|
Essener Benzin A.G. |
Berghamen, Ruhr |
80,000 |
13.6 |
4.1 |
1.8 |
0.8 |
- |
|
Schaffpotsch Benzin Gm GH. |
Deschowitz, Silesia |
40,000 |
6.8 |
0.7 |
0.8 |
1.8 |
- |
|
Wintershall A.G. |
Luetzkendorf, Saxony |
(70,000) |
1.7 |
0.2 |
0.1 |
0.7 |
- |
|
TOTAL: |
591,000 |
100.0 |
22.5 |
11.4 |
13.4 |
1.6 |
|
|
(46.1%) |
(23.3% |
(27.4%) |
(3.2%) |
||||
Of the existing 9 FT plants, 5 were of the low pressure (“Niederdruck”) type, 2 included both low pressure and medium pressure, and 2 were of the medium pressure (“Mitteldruck”) type. The distribution of theseplants and their capacities is shown in this table: DISTRIBUTION OF LP(1) AND MP(2) CAPACITY AMONG FISCHER-TROPSCH UNITS (Based on actual production for 1942)
| Name of Plant | LP
Operation T/Year |
Mp
Operation T/Year |
Total T/Year |
| Ruhrchemie | 18.088 | 44,545 | 62,633 |
| Viktor | 37,699 | 37,699 | |
| Rheinpreussen | 67,212 | 67,212 | |
| Krupp* | 48,330 | 11,857 | 60,187 |
| Hoesch | 46,044 | 46,044 | |
| Brabag | 164,606 | 164,605 | |
| Essener | 79,974 | 79,974 | |
| Schaffgotsch | 26,374 | 26,374 | |
| Wintershall | 11,468 | 11,468 | |
| TOTAL: % |
427,377 | 128,820 | 556,197 |
| 76.8% | 23.2% | 100.00% | |
| * In this plant the first stage operates at low pressure; second stage at medium pressure. | |||
The last FT unit, a medium pressure plant, had been built in 1937 (Completed 1939). However, it was found that this product was even less suitable for motor fuel due to its lower olefine content and no further units were built.
In the meantime, a new type of operation was developed, consisting mainly of gas recirculation (“Kreislauf”) which, on MP operation gave substantial increase in the production of olefins. This process is described in detail in this report. Two of the existing MP plants were in the process of conversion to “Keislauf” but neither had begun to operate and all information is based on pilot plant data. (1) Low Pressure; (2) Medium Press.
To give a more detailed picture of the production and product distribution of the FT plants, the following table has been prepared. This table is based on actual production for the year 1941. (The data was taken from the licensing invoices of Ruhrchemie Holten to the 9 licenses).
Note that these figures do not agree with those shown on Table II which covers the following year. The difference is due to the addition in plant capacity in that period. By 1943 the decline in production caused by Allied air activity had already begun.
The figure, barrels/day is only an approximation based on an average density of 7.5 lbs/gal. (See reference 1a at end of this section).
PRODUCT DISTRIBUTION OF FT UNITS FIGURES IN TONS/YEAR (1941)
| Name of Plant | Fluessigas (gasol) |
Gasoline | Kogasin (230-320ºC) |
Diesel Oil |
Paraffin (Gatsch) |
Hard Wax |
Other Products not sold directly | Total |
| Ruhrchemie | 8988 | 20616 | 8454 | 14855 | 52913 | |||
| Viktor | 4471 | 18167 | 3358 | 7395 | 2927 | 833 | 24 | 37175 |
| Rheinpreussen | 7379 | 34191 | 6656 | 16394 | 5093 | 1408 | 71122 | |
| Krupp | 4657 | 25531 | 11467 | 5575 | 2500 | 8645 | 58375 | |
| Hoesch | 3591 | 9523 | 3749 | 15287 | 5788 | 351 | 6110 | 44055 |
| Brabag | 8421 | 77955 | 31845 | 9812 | 3230 | 8864 | 140177 | |
| Essener | 10415 | 32574 | 4767 | 17007 | 6199 | 1351 | 72312 | |
| Schaffgotsch | 1557 | 6035 | 56 | 5320 | 4441 | 1441 | 1640 | 20490 |
| Winterschall | 5 | 3388 | 838 | 631 | 503 | 195 | 5561 | |
| TOTAL: | 49484 | 227980 | 19424 | 113800 | 40388 | 11309 | 40138 | 502175 |
| % | 9.81 | 45.57 | 3.86 | 22.50 | 8.00 | 2.55 | 8.00 | 100.00 |
| Barrels/Day | 948 | 4380 | 372 | 2175 | 755 | 216 | 770 | 9620 |
Although German price figures are not a good basis for calculation in other countries, they were used as the basis for calculating license fees to RCH. The prices for different FT products are given below:
| Fluessiggas: C3-C4 | 22 – 26.6 Pfennig/Kg. |
| Gasoline: Stabilized | 25.7-31.5 Pfennig/Kg. |
| Diesel oil | 23.0-27.0 Pfennig/Kg. |
| Paraffin Gatsch | 20.5-25.0 Pfennig/Kg. |
| *Special Waxes | 56.0-92.0 Pfennig/Kg. |
| *This figure depending on melting point. |
The total realization for the primary products for 1941 broken down according to plants was as follows:
|
Ruhrchemie |
13,504,550 RM/year |
25.40 Rpfg/Kg. |
|
Viktor |
9,788,611 RM/year |
26.30 Rpfg/Kg. |
|
Rheinpreussen |
20,467,303 RM/year |
28.70 Rpfg/Kg. |
|
Krupp |
16,987,486 RM/year |
19.20 Rpfg/Kg. |
|
Hoesch |
12,114,410 RM/year |
27.99 Rpfg/Kg. |
|
Brabag |
42,141,536 RM/year |
30.20 Rpfg/Kg. |
|
Essener |
20,677,082 RM/year |
28.50 Rpfg/Kg. |
|
Schaffgotsch |
5,978,738 RM/year |
29.15 Rpfg/Kg. |
|
Wintershall |
1,685,765 RM/year |
30.31 Rpfg/Kg. |
|
TOTAL: |
143,345,478 RM/year |
28.40 Rpfg/Kg. |
The license fee to Ruhrchemie A.G. was exactly 1% of the net sales value of the products.
| For the year 1941: | |
| Total Production: | 502,175--ton/year |
| Total License Fee | 1,433,454--RM/year |
| License | 2.85--RM/ton product. |