Which process converts natural gas into liquid hydrocarbons using synthesis gas and catalysts?

The Fischer–Tropsch process converts natural gas into liquid hydrocarbons using synthesis gas and catalysts.

The process first converts a carbon-containing feedstock into synthesis gas, or syngas, a mixture mainly of carbon monoxide and hydrogen. A catalyst then promotes chemical reactions that build hydrocarbon chains, producing liquid fuels and other products such as waxes.

German chemists Franz Fischer and Hans Tropsch developed the process in the 1920s. Germany used it extensively during the Second World War because it had limited access to crude oil but could produce syngas from coal. South Africa later used Fischer–Tropsch technology on a large scale, particularly because of international sanctions and abundant coal.

Gas-to-liquids plants can use natural gas as the starting feedstock, while coal-to-liquids plants use coal. Fischer–Tropsch products are not the same as liquefied natural gas: LNG is methane cooled into a liquid, whereas Fischer–Tropsch creates new liquid hydrocarbons chemically.