What is the process called that adds hydrogen to coal to create synthetic fuels?

What is the process called that adds hydrogen to coal to create synthetic fuels?

• A. Catalytic reforming
• B. Hydrocracking
• C. Hydrogenation
• D. Methanation

Answer: (C)

Hydrogenation is the process of adding hydrogen to a molecule, saturating it and often building up larger hydrocarbon liquids. In coal-to-liquid pathways, coal is first converted into a gas mixture (syngas), and then hydrogen is added to help stabilize and assemble carbon-rich fragments into liquid hydrocarbons that can be refined into fuels. This makes hydrogenation the best fit for describing the step of introducing hydrogen into coal-derived material to produce synthetic fuels. The other options involve hydrogen's role in different kinds of transformations—reforming rearranges molecules to improve gasoline quality, hydrocracking uses hydrogen to break large molecules, and methanation converts carbon oxides with hydrogen into methane—not the process of turning coal into liquid fuels through hydrogen addition.

Hydrogenation is the process of adding hydrogen to a molecule, saturating it and often building up larger hydrocarbon liquids. In coal-to-liquid pathways, coal is first converted into a gas mixture (syngas), and then hydrogen is added to help stabilize and assemble carbon-rich fragments into liquid hydrocarbons that can be refined into fuels. This makes hydrogenation the best fit for describing the step of introducing hydrogen into coal-derived material to produce synthetic fuels. The other options involve hydrogen's role in different kinds of transformations—reforming rearranges molecules to improve gasoline quality, hydrocracking uses hydrogen to break large molecules, and methanation converts carbon oxides with hydrogen into methane—not the process of turning coal into liquid fuels through hydrogen addition.