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The new Shell campaign in German television mentioned about “Gas to Liquid”. What is that? Gas to Liquid or GtL is a process to produce a liquid fuel synthetically from synthetic gas (Carbon monoxide CO₂ & Hydrogen H₂). The process called Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis. This process was founded by a German scientist Franz Fischer and his assistant Hans Tropsch in 1925. This process was historical in World War II an enor­mous important process to supply need of liquid fuel in Germany. The process based on the chemical reaction of CO₂ and H₂ into hydrocarbon describes by following chemical equation: 

 The reaction runs catalytic with iron (Fe) or Cobalt (Co) by 20-40 bar pressure and 200ºC – 350ºC. The Hydrocarbon can be used to produce gasoline or diesel fuel. The advantage of this process is no formation of aromatic hydrocarbon; therefore the harmful substances of the fuel emission can be reduced by blending this product in gasoline and diesel fuel. The biggest Fischer-Tropsch plant can be found in South Africa and run by Sasol Ltd.

Literature: www.fischer-tropsch.org