Coal to liquid

Coal to liquid (CTL) is like making soup from coal. Coal is made of carbon and hydrogen. To turn it into liquid, we first heat it up in a special type of oven. This is called “gasification.” In the oven, the coal breaks down into tiny pieces and forms a gas called “syngas,” which is made of carbon monoxide and hydrogen.

Next, we mix the syngas with some other chemicals, such as oxygen, steam, and methane. We do this in a machine that looks like a big pot- called a “gasifier.” Inside the gasifier, chemical reactions happen that turn the gas into liquids. These liquids are made of molecules that are like those in diesel or gasoline.

Finally, we can use these liquids as fuel for cars and other machines. So instead of burning coal for energy, we can use the liquid fuel that we made from coal to power vehicles.