4.6 Article Proceedings Paper

A simple and realistic fixed bed model for investigating Fischer-Tropsch catalyst activity at lab-scale and extrapolating to industrial conditions

Journal

CHEMICAL ENGINEERING SCIENCE
Volume 66, Issue 24, Pages 6358-6366

Publisher

PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.ces.2011.04.032

Keywords

Fischer-Tropsch synthesis; Fixed-bed reactor; Solid foam catalyst; Catalyst activity comparison; Scale-up; Hot spot and pressure drop control

Funding

  1. Total S.A

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In the present work, a ready-to-use tool in the form of a comprehensive fixed-bed reactor model (2-dimensional, pseudo-homogeneous, gas-solid and steady state model) for Fischer-Tropsch synthesis is proposed. The model is based on the main governing processes in terms of physical and chemical laws and considers internal mass transfer resistance. The model allows: (a) determining kinetic parameters from laboratory experiments; (b) estimating productivity, CO conversion, selectivities (CH4 and C5+) under relevant industrial conditions for various catalyst structures (foam, extrudates, grains, etc.). The application of this tool in basic scale-up studies is illustrated in the simulation of a three-stage FT unit of 30,000 barrels/day of diesel+naphtha. It is shown that a foam catalyst allows better performances (activity per unit mass, C5+ selectivities and overall pressure drop) than packed extrudates, but at the expense of higher catalyst and reactor volumes. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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