Sasol  (Page 3/4)

Sasol processes

Refer to the diagrams summarising the three main Sasol processes, and use these to answer the following questions:

1. Explain what is meant by each of the following terms:
   1. crude oil
   2. hydrocarbon
   3. coal gasification
   4. synthetic fuel
   5. chemical feedstock
2. 1. What is diesel?
   2. Describe two ways in which diesel can be produced.
3. Describe one way in which lighter chemical products such as ethylene, can be produced.
4. Coal and oil play an important role in Sasol's technology.
   1. In the table below, summarise the similarities and differences between coal, oil and natural gas in terms of how they are formed ('origin'), their general chemical formula and whether they are solid, liquid or gas.

      	Coal	Oil	Natural gas
      Origin
      General chemical formula
      Solid, liquid or gas

   2. In your own words, describe how coal is converted into liquid fuels.
   3. Explain why Sasol's 'coal to liquid fuels' technology is so important in meeting South Africa's fuel needs.
   4. Low grade coal is used to produce liquid fuels. What is the main use of higher grade coal in South Africa?

Case study : safety issues and risk assessments

Safety issues are important to consider when dealing with industrial processes. Read the following extract that appeared in the Business report on 6th February 2006, and then discuss the questions that follow.

Cape Town - Sasol, the petrochemicals group, was likely to face prosecution on 10 charges of culpable homicide after an explosion at its Secunda plant in 2004 in which 10 people died, a Cape Town labour law specialist said on Friday. The specialist, who did not want to be named, was speaking after the inquiry into the explosion was concluded last Tuesday. It was convened by the labour department.

The evidence led at the inquiry showed a failure on the part of the company to conduct a proper risk assessment and that: Sasol failed to identify hazards associated with a high-pressure gas pipeline running through the plant, which had been shut for extensive maintenance work, in the presence of hundreds of people and numerous machines, including cranes, fitters, contractors, and welding and cutting machines. Because there had never been a risk assessment, the hazard of the high-pressure pipeline had never been identified.

Because Sasol had failed to identify the risk, it did not take any measures to warn people about it, mark the line or take precautions. There had also been inadequacy in planning the shutdown work. In the face of a barrage of criticism for the series of explosions that year, Sasol embarked on a comprehensive programme to improve safety at its operations and appointed Du Pont Safety Resources, the US safety consultancy, to benchmark the petrochemical giant's occupational health and safety performance against international best practice.