Friedrich Bergius

Friedrich Bergius (1884–1949) was a German chemist who developed high-pressure hydrogenation of coal into liquid fuels and shared the 1931 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

Coal hydrogenation: A process that converts coal into liquid hydrocarbons by reacting it with hydrogen under pressure. This is the high-pressure conversion Bergius developed for producing liquid fuel from coal.
Coal: A carbon-rich sedimentary rock formed from ancient plant matter and used as fuel and industrial feedstock. It was the raw material at the center of Bergius’s hydrogenation research.
Carl Bosch: A German chemist and industrial executive who scaled high-pressure chemistry and shared the 1931 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Bergius. Bosch’s industrial expertise helped translate Bergius’s process into large-scale technology.
Synthetic fuel: Fuel made from non-petroleum feedstocks through chemical conversion rather than extracted as crude oil. Bergius’s process produced synthetic liquid fuel from coal.
High-pressure chemistry: The study and use of chemical reactions under pressures far above atmospheric pressure. Bergius’s process depended on pressures that enabled hydrogen to react with coal.
Chemical industry: The industrial production of chemicals and materials through large-scale chemical processes. Bergius pursued a laboratory discovery that could serve industrial production.
Nobel Prize in Chemistry: An annual international award recognizing major contributions to chemistry, established under Alfred Nobel’s will. Bergius shared its 1931 award with Carl Bosch for high-pressure chemical methods.
Fischer–Tropsch process: A catalytic process that converts carbon monoxide and hydrogen into liquid hydrocarbons. It is an alternative coal-to-liquid route that first converts coal into synthesis gas.
Hydrogenation: A chemical reaction that adds hydrogen to a substance, often using a catalyst. Coal hydrogenation applies this broader reaction to complex solid material.
World War I: A global war fought from 1914 to 1918, involving the major powers of Europe and their allies. Wartime fuel shortages heightened interest in producing liquid fuels from domestic coal.

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Water–gas shift reactionRelated: His high-pressure process exemplified the industrial chemistry that relied on controlled hydrogen-rich gas mixtures.