Coatings update: feedstocks for the paint industry

Abstract

The petroleum shortage of the 1970s (1984 is the tenth anniversary of the OPEC embargo!) motivated tremendous interest in finding alternative raw materials for chemicals. Indeed, in 1975 it was predicted that by 1990, huge and expensive coal gasifiers would be producing CO and hydrogen for synthesis gas, from which the chemical industry would derive many of its raw materials. In 1983 it was apparent that this prediction was far from accurate. To be sure, eventually there will be a shift from petroleum to coal, but it most surely will not be before the end of the century and perhaps not even then. Coal will, however, continue to find increasing use as an energy source. The vast amount of research that has been done on converting synthesis gas to chemicals will continue, although with considerably less intensity. When the time comes, the shift will be made. But that time will be delayed as far as possible because the shift will require tremendous capital investment. Coal gasifiers can cost as much as US$500,000, and the return on such an investment must be assured before it is made. Certainly, coal is a cheap raw material. Thus, its use for chemicals represents a trade‐off between a cheap raw material and a very high capital investment.

Citation

Americus (1984), "Coatings update: feedstocks for the paint industry", Pigment & Resin Technology, Vol. 13 No. 2, pp. 4-7. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb041988