Cities Service Research and Development Company (CSRD), the research arm of the Cities Service Company, has been developing a process scheme named the CS-SR Process, for the non-catalytic, vapor-phase, hydrogenation of carbonaceous feedstocks. The initial and primary emphasis in our Energy Research Laboratory was to apply this technology to convert coal into pipeline quality gas and attractive byproduct yields of light aromatic (BTX) liquids. A review of the literature early in 1974 led to our conclusion that the most productive area of process development would be that of short residence time hydrogenation. Clean energy from coal, in all forms be it liquid or gaseous hydrocarbons, is vital to the United States energy independence program. The short residence, rapid heatup hydropyrolysis technique optimizes the conversion of aromatic and aliphatic fragments in coal to light aromatic liquids and the gaseous components of substitute natural gas (SNG). In this way, the CS-SR Process mitigates nature rather than antagonizing it. A brief literature review has been presented in our previous paper at the 1976 ACS (San Francisco) meeting. In the summer of 1974, we designed a 1–4 lb/h bench-scale unit capable of operation at temperatures and pressure that are scalable within present-day, commercial technology. A cold-flow model to test coal—hydrogen mixing injectors and to study coal—hydrogen slip velocities was designed and constructed in Autumn, 1974. Construction of the bench-scale unit began in December 1974 and was completed in June, 1975 with the shakedown operations occurring in the Summer of 1975. The first complete material balance run was made in August, 1975. Since that time, over 175 runs have been made with a variety of feedstocks including lignite, bituminous and subbituminous coals, oil shale, tar sands and coal tars. Further development of the CS-SR Process is being undertaken in several programs supported jointly by Cities Service and DOE. Several experimental programs are continuing in the bench-scale unit to explore conditions for maximizing liquids yields and also for maximizing gas (methane, ethane) yields. Process flowsheet studies are also being made. The next step of development of the CS-SR Process would require about a 6-inch diameter, pilot plant reactor capable of processing about 100 TPD coal. This pilot plant would be one scaleup step away from a 12-inch diameter, single tube, commercial-type operation and a direct scale to a 6-inch diameter, multi-tube, commercial type operation. This paper summarizes the analysis of the bench-scale data obtained when processing a North Dakota lignite.