Fischer–Tropsch process

The Fischer–Tropsch process catalytically converts carbon monoxide and hydrogen into hydrocarbons, including liquid fuels and waxes. It enables synthetic hydrocarbon production from coal, natural gas, or biomass-derived synthesis gas.

Synthesis gas: A mixture composed mainly of carbon monoxide and hydrogen, used as a feedstock for fuels and chemicals. This is the gaseous feedstock that supplies carbon and hydrogen to the process.
Franz Fischer: A German chemist who co-developed the process for synthesizing hydrocarbons from carbon monoxide and hydrogen. His work with Hans Tropsch established the process's foundational chemistry.
Gas-to-liquids: Industrial conversion of natural gas into liquid fuels and products, commonly using synthesis gas and Fischer–Tropsch synthesis. It is a major commercial application of the process using natural gas as feedstock.
Methanol synthesis: Catalytic production of methanol from carbon monoxide or carbon dioxide and hydrogen. It uses similar feed gases but makes a single oxygenated product rather than hydrocarbon chains.
Fischer–Tropsch catalysis: Surface-catalyzed reactions that convert carbon monoxide and hydrogen into hydrocarbon chains. It describes the catalytic chemistry at the heart of the process.
Hans Tropsch: A German chemist who co-developed a method for producing hydrocarbons from synthesis gas. His collaboration with Franz Fischer gave the process its name.
Coal-to-liquids: Industrial conversion of coal into liquid fuels through gasification and downstream synthesis or liquefaction. Fischer–Tropsch synthesis can turn coal-derived synthesis gas into liquid hydrocarbons.
Direct coal liquefaction: Conversion of coal into liquid products by dissolving and hydrogenating it without first gasifying it. It bypasses the synthesis-gas stage central to Fischer–Tropsch routes.
Cobalt catalyst: A catalyst containing cobalt, widely used to produce long-chain hydrocarbons from synthesis gas. Cobalt favors paraffin production and is commonly used with hydrogen-rich feedstocks.
Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Coal Research: A German research institute founded to study coal and its chemical conversion. Fischer and Tropsch developed their synthesis there in the 1920s.

Linked from 13 pages