Fischer-Tropsch process

[ fish-er-trohpsh, -tropsh ]

noun

, Chemistry.

1. a catalytic hydrogenation method to produce liquid hydrocarbon fuels from carbon monoxide.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Fischer-Tropsch process¹

1930–35; named after F. Fischer (died 1948), and H. Tropsch (died 1935), German chemists

Example Sentences

Finally a Fischer-Tropsch process turns this gas into a synthetic crude oil.

From BBC

However, the Fischer-Tropsch process can turn any carbon feed stock - coal, natural gas, biomass - into liquid fuel, and the American shale-gas boom of this century brought natural gas to the fore as a commercially viable feeder resource.

From Washington Times

This last bit's called the Fischer-Tropsch process, and dates back to the 1920s.

From BBC

The Fischer-Tropsch process has been in use for nearly a century to turn natural gas or coal into liquid fuel.

From Scientific American

Until recently, the method used to convert natural gas or coal to liquid fuel — known as the Fischer-Tropsch process after the Germans who invented it — had been used only by pariah nations desperate for transportation fuels when they had little or no oil available.

From New York Times