A coal liquefaction pilot plant of the NEDOL process, supported by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO), was in successful operation for a total of 269 days at Kashima, Japan. The liquefaction section consisted of three reactors, 1 m in diameter, connected in series, and processed 150 tons of coal per day. Product yields were modeled assuming 13 reaction paths, and a steady-state simulator was developed. The performance of the entire process, including distillation and solvent hydrogenation sections, was further incorporated into the simulation. The design procedure for the liquefaction reactors, which would possess a diameter of 4 m and process 2500 tons of coal per day, was discussed in sight of the simulator. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.