NOVELTY - Ethane is converted which involves directing a gaseous stream from a gas well into fractionator; fractionating gaseous stream; directing post-fractionator ethane stream directly into thermal activation unit; heating and raising temperature of the post-fractionator ethane stream within the thermal activation unit; directing the activated ethane stream into a quench tower to create a quenched stream; directing quenched stream into a conversion unit; and utilizing catalyst within conversion unit to convert quenched stream to mixed product stream containing hydrogen and 1-15C hydrocarbons.    USE - The process is useful for converting ethane to e.g. liquid fuels (claimed) and chemicals.    ADVANTAGE - Thermal activation of ethane in thermal activation unit produces a raw ethylene stream simply and easily. The process uses raw ethylene in a conversion unit to produce liquid fuels such as gasoline and diesel fuel because using raw ethylene results in lowering the costs of separating impurities from ethylene. Another advantage of process is the option to remove hydrogen in a hydrogen stream from the first separation unit. Hydrogen is a by-product of thermal activation in thermal activation unit. By removing hydrogen in hydrogen stream before first separation unit exiting stream reaches conversion unit and second separation unit, the quality and conversion of first separation unit exiting stream to C4+ hydrocarbon stream may be improved. Removing hydrogen in hydrogen stream also permits operation of conversion unit under milder conditions of pressure and temperature which permits a corresponding reduction in capital and operating costs.    DETAILED DESCRIPTION - Ethane is converted which involves directing a gaseous stream from a gas well into a fractionator; fractionating the gaseous stream to produce a post-fractionator ethane stream; directing the post-fractionator ethane stream directly into a thermal activation unit; heating and raising the temperature of the post-fractionator ethane stream within the thermal activation unit and creating an activated ethane stream; directing the activated ethane stream into a quench tower to create a quenched stream; directing the quenched stream into a conversion unit; utilizing a catalyst within the conversion unit to convert the quenched stream to a mixed product stream containing hydrogen and 1-15C hydrocarbons; and directing the mixed product stream into a first separation unit to form a stream of C4+ hydrocarbon product and a stream of 1-3C hydrocarbons. An INDEPENDENT CLAIM is included for a process for converting ethane to liquid fuels which involves directing a gaseous stream from a gas well into a fractionator; fractionating the gaseous stream to produce a post-fractionator ethane stream; directing the post-fractionator ethane stream directly into a thermal activation unit; heating and raising the temperature of the post-fractionator ethane stream within the thermal activation unit and creating an activated ethane stream; directing the activated ethane stream into a quench tower to create a quenched stream; directing the quenched stream into a conversion unit; utilizing a catalyst within the conversion unit to convert the quenched stream to a mixed product stream containing hydrogen and 1-3C hydrocarbons; and directing the mixed product stream into a separation unit to form a stream of hydrogen and 1-3C hydrocarbons.