Mass transfer limitations on fixed-bed reactor for Fischer-Tropsch synthesis

Mass transfer limitations on fixed-bed for Fischer-Tropsch synthesis were investigated by changing synthesis gas superficial velocity, catalyst pellet size, and catalyst amount. To study external mass transfer limitation, synthesis gas superficial velocity was changed from 8.47 × 10^− 4 m s^− 1 to 3.39 × 10^− 3 m s^− 1. As a result, the synthesis gas superficial velocity of 3.39 × 10^− 3 m s^− 1 was most suitable for hydrocarbon chain growth resulting to liquid hydrocarbon formation. In case of internal mass transfer limitations, the effects of catalyst pellet size and catalyst amount (W_cat/F) were discussed. The large catalyst pellet showed higher C₅₊ selectivity and a lower α value compared to the small pellet because of more severe internal mass transfer limitations of α-olefin and long-chained hydrocarbons in the large pellet, respectively. Catalyst amount (W_cat/F) was inversely proportional to the internal mass transfer limitation because increased catalyst amount gave more time for liquid hydrocarbon products to diffuse from the catalyst pellet and, therefore, the catalyst amount of 4.5 g (W_cat/F = 45 g_cat min L^− 1) was most appropriate for liquid hydrocarbon formation.     

尾气循环的费托反应固定床模拟及分析

费托合成的工业生产过程一般采用尾气循环操作以提高合成气的转化率。文章通过建立尾气循环的固定床二维非均相模型,对不同入口温度、压力、冷却水温度等操作情况进行了模拟计算;同时,详细分析了循环比、循环气和原料气组成等对反应过程CO转化率和热点温度等的影响。结果表明:在反应过程中的CH4等惰性气体体积分数对尾气循环操作下的CO转化率及反应器温度分布有显著影响。     

Highly effective cobalt catalyst for wax production in Fischer-Tropsch synthesis

Fischer-Tropsch synthesis (FTS) was carried out in a fixed bed reactor with a highly effective cobalt catalyst for wax production. The procedure for reducing the inactive cobalt oxide to the active cobalt catalyst was examined by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and temperature-programmed reduction (TPR). The results showed that 300 ml/min H₂ at 350 °C for 16 h was suitable for reducing the inactive Co oxides to active metallic Co sites. In the case of the powder and pellet type cobalt catalysts with a reactant (H₂/CO = 2:1) flow rate of 15 g_cat min L⁻¹, catalyst deactivation occurred as a result of mass transfer limitations of the hydrocarbon and water produced on the catalyst. On the other hand, the pellet type cobalt catalyst with a reactant flow rate of 45 g_cat min L⁻¹ showed activity not only for liquid hydrocarbon (C₅₊) formation but also for gas product (CH₄ and CO₂) formation. In particular, the methane yield reached almost 20% due to heat transfer limitation in the catalyst. Considering the heat and mass transfer limitations in the cobalt catalyst, a Co-foam catalyst with an inner metallic foam frame and an outer cobalt catalyst was developed. SEM-EDS Co-mapping revealed the cobalt atoms to be distributed equally over the surface of the Co-foam catalyst. The Co-foam catalyst was highly selective toward liquid hydrocarbon production and the liquid hydrocarbon productivity at 203 °C was 52.5 ml  h⁻¹, which was higher than that by the Co-pellet. In addition, the chain length probability, α, by the Co-foam catalyst was 0.923 and wax formation was especially favored.     

One-dimensional heterogeneous model of a Fischer-Tropsch synthesis reactor with a fixed catalyst bed in the isothermal granules approximation

A one-dimensional heterogeneous model has been developed for a cat6alytic fixed-bed Fischer-Tropsch (FT) synthesis reactor in the isothermal granules approximation. The FT process has been simulated for a laboratory-scale reactor. The effects of the linear gas velocity and of the inner diameter of the reactor on the thermal stability of the process are considered. The size of the reactor is limited by the possibility of a “thermal explosion” occurring in the frontal layer of the catalyst. Raising the linear gas velocity enhances heat transfer, thereby reducing the overheating of the catalyst bed. The synthesis of solid hydrocarbons can be conducted in reactors no larger than 18 mm in diameter. According to calculations, the maximum temperature drop in a 3-, 4-, and 6-m-long reactor is 4.7, 4.2, and 3.6°C, respectively. The corresponding CO conversion is 35.0, 34.4, and 33.9%, respectively. For producing liquid hydrocarbons in a high-performance reactor, it is necessary to decrease its inner diameter to 12 mm. In this case, the maximum temperature drop at a reactor length of 3, 4, and 6 m is 9.6, 8.7, and 7.6°C, and the CO conversion is 78.0, 77.4, and 76.7%, respectively. The mathematical model devised here provides means to estimate the necessary design parameters of the reactor and the appropriate FT synthesis conditions for producing liquid or solid hydrocarbons.     

费托合成铁基催化剂浆态床反应性能的研究

为了获得工艺参数对铁基催化剂费托合成产品分布的影响规律,在浆态床反应器中考察了反应温度、反应压力、氢碳比、空速对铁基催化剂费托合成反应性能的影响。结果表明,温度升高时,催化剂活性、CO_2和CH_4选择性均升高,产物向轻组分分布;压力增大时,催化剂活性和CO_2选择性升高,CH_4选择性下降,产物向重组分分布;随氢碳比的增加,催化剂活性和CH_4选择性升高,CO_2选择性下降,C_(5+)呈下降趋势;随空速增加,催化剂的活性和CO_2选择性下降,CH_4选择性上升,C_(5+)向轻质烃分布。选择合适的工艺条件,可有效改善铁基催化剂的费托合成反应性能,控制碳链长度和产物的分布,提高费托合成反应的经济性。     

费托合成催化剂失活动力学模型的研究进展

费托合成催化剂由于自身的化学性质在反应中不可避免会发生失活，为了保证生产的连续稳定，需要建立费托合成催化剂失活的动力学模型来预测催化剂的活性变化，并及时对失活的催化剂进行置换和再生。本文论述了费托合成失活动力学模型的研究进展，讨论了通用型失活动力学模型，根据机理建立的失活动力学模型的特点。通用型失活动力学模型与催化剂种类和失活原因没有直接关联，包括线性模型、简单幂律模型、通用幂律模型、韦伯分布模型、S型分布模型。根据机理建立的失活动力学模型则与催化剂种类和失活发生的机理相关，包括硫中毒失活模型、烧结失活模型、表面氧化失活模型等。通用型失活动力学模型准确性好、容易建立，但比较粗略，适用于费托合成的生产管理、过程模拟。根据机理建立的失活动力学模型建立过程复杂，只适用于特定催化剂，但能够从中研究催化剂的失活机理。费托合成失活动力学模型未来的发展趋势是融合两类模型，从失活机理的角度理解通用型失活动力学模型里参数的含义。     

Experience with a new type of reactor for Fischer-Tropsch synthesis

Circulating fluidised bed (CFB) reactors have traditionally been used for the high temperature Fischer-Tropsch synthesis-Synthol process. A development program undertaken by Sasol with the assistance of The Badger Company recently led to the successful commissioning of a commercial scale conventional, fixed fluidised bed (FFB) reactor as an alternative to the CFB reactor.Work was done in a small pilot plant which was followed by work in a 1 m diameter semi-works pilot plant operated in parallel with one of the commercial CFB reactors. Based on the positive results obtained, it was decided to build a commercial scale FFB reactor with a capacity similar to existing commercial reactors at Sasol One. This reactor was successfully commissioned and has been in operation since May 1989.The reactor is easy to operate and can withstand major plant instabilities. A techno-economic analysis and comparison between the Synthol-CFB and Synthol-FFB reactors indicates significant advantages for the Synthol-FFB reactor, both with respect to capital and operating costs. The results of this analysis and comparison are presented and the significance of the findings discussed in terms of future plants for the conversion of synthesis gas to liquid fuels.     

A comprehensive mathematical model for the Fischer-Tropsch synthesis in well-mixed slurry reactors

A new product distribution quasi-steady-state model was proposed for the Fischer-Tropsch (FT) synthesis in slurry reactors, being applicable to their transient simulation. It may consider two chain propagation mechanisms or sites and the possibility of 1-olefin readsorption with secondary reactions, recovering the Anderson-Schulz-Flory (ASF) model, the two superimposed ASF model and the 1-olefin readsorption model as particular cases. The hydrocarbon compounds were lumped according to the number of carbon atoms in their molecules for the paraffin and 1-olefin families. The phases were assumed to be well mixed in the reactor and transient mass balances were performed for each component, allowing simulation of operation in constant liquid level and no liquid withdrawal conditions. A rigorous calculation of the vapor-liquid equilibrium (VLE) through cubic equations of state was used to describe the phase behavior. Rate expressions for the FT and the water gas shift reactions are taken from the literature and expressed in terms of fugacities. Simulation results showed that the inclusion of both the olefin readsorption and the two chain propagation mechanisms may explain the anomalies present in experimental hydrocarbon product distribution. Moreover, the effect of phase-equilibrium modeling on product distribution simulation was shown to be slightly important in the conditions analyzed. Compositional lumping schemes for the hydrocarbons were investigated to speed up the simulations. Results showed that lumping can speed up computations up to 250 times with negligible loss of accuracy.     

Effect of cobalt catalyst type and reaction medium on Fischer-Tropsch synthesis

This study covers the performance of five cobalt-based catalytic systems with different support characteristics in Fisher-Tropsch synthesis (FTS) under conventional gas-phase using syngas, and the manner in which the reaction medium is influenced by the addition of solvents such as n-hexane and squalane has been also investigated. The reaction was conducted in a fixed bed high-pressure FTS reactor setup at a reaction temperature of 220 °C to 260 °C. In terms of the effect of the reaction medium, higher CO conversion was obtained in gas phase reaction, whereas the olefin selectivity was higher in n-hexane medium than in gas phase and squalane medium. In addition, the undesired production of CH₄ and CO₂ was relatively reduced in solvent addition compared to the gas phase FTS. The reaction performance was also compared according to the type of catalyst. CO conversion by type of catalyst decreased in the following order: 20% Co/SiO₂>20% Co/Al₂O₃>20% Co/HAS>20% Co/Si-MMS>20% Co/TiO₂. However, the C₅₊ content of products was little affected by catalyst supports.     

负载型Co基F-T合成催化剂中贵金属助剂促进作用的研究进展

在负载型Co基催化剂中添加少量贵金属助剂能显著影响催化剂活性、选择性与稳定性。贵金属助剂的添加提高了Co活性组分的还原度与分散度,增加了催化剂表面的活性位数目,改变了催化剂的几何结构和电子结构,影响CO、H₂或中间产物的吸附活化行为,抑制催化剂积炭和金属Co小粒子的再氧化。综述贵金属助剂对催化剂活性中心性质、反应物的吸附活化行为和催化剂反应稳定性的影响。     

Effect of hierarchical meso-macroporous silica supports on Fischer-Tropsch synthesis using cobalt catalyst

Hierarchical meso-macroporous (HS-X) silica with different mesopore diameters synthesized by using rice husk ash as a silica source and chitosan as a natural template were applied for the first time as the cobalt support for Fischer-Tropsch synthesis. Unimodal mesoporous silica (MS-X) supports with equivalent mesopore diameters to HS-X supports have also been prepared for comparison. Effects of diffusion in MS-X and HS-X supports of different particle sizes on the catalytic activity and hydrocarbon selectivity were investigated. The cobalt crystallite sizes were increased with increasing mesopore diameters, whereas the highest amount of H₂ chemisorbed was found for the catalyst with the medium mesopore diameter. The HS-X supports revealed lower surface area and higher macroporosity which led to the formation of larger cobalt crystallite size and less chemisorbed H₂. However, the catalytic activity was much higher for cobalt supported on HS-X silica of both small and large catalyst particle sizes. Moreover, with the large catalyst particle size, the C₅₊ selectivity of cobalt supported on HS-X silica was much higher than that on MS-X silica, indicating the influence of mass transfer of reactants and products in macropores of HS-X supports.     

含镁添加剂的铁基费-托合成催化剂

采用连续共沉淀与喷雾干燥技术相结合的方法制备了一系列不同镁添加剂含量的微球状沉淀型Fe/Cu/K/Mg/SiO_2(Mg/Fe质量比0～0.11)催化剂.采用H_2/CO体积比为2的合成气在523 K、2.0 MPa、2 000 h~(-1)的条件下于固定床反应器上考察了这一系列催化剂的F-T合成(FTS)反应性能.结果表明,适量镁添加剂的加入可以提高催化剂FTS反应活性,增加稳定性,提高C_(5+)、总烃的时空产率和C_(5～11)汽油馏分段产物的选择性,降低CO_2的选择性,抑制铁基催化剂的水煤气变换(WGS)反应,但过高的Mg添加剂含量易使催化剂的稳定性变差,反应活性下降.结果表明,Mg/Fe=0.07的催化剂在该反应条件下,CO最高转化率达到90%,且具有良好的稳定性;在整个运行期间,有效烃(C_(5+)+C_(2～4)~=)选择性在83%左右,甲烷选择性维持在8%左右.     

不同氧化锰载体对费托钴基催化剂合成低碳烯烃的影响

制备不同的Co/MnO_x (Co/MnO、Co/MnO₂、Co/Mn₂O₃、Co/Mn₃O₄) 催化剂,并利用XRD、SEM、TEM、BET、TPR、DRIFTS、XPS表征手段分析催化剂的理化性质,比较不同氧化锰载体对催化性能的影响,考察催化剂对低碳烯烃(C₂⁼～C₄⁼)的选择性影响。结果表明催化剂Co/MnO和Co/Mn₃O₄更容易还原,并且CO的吸附量较大,有利于实现较高的CO转化率;Co/Mn₂O₃和Co/Mn₃O₄中CO桥式吸附更高,有利于生成更多的-CH₂-物种。综合考虑催化剂的活性和C₂⁼～C₄⁼选择性,Co/Mn₃O₄的费托合成(FTS)性能最好,其中C₂⁼～C₄⁼选择性为50.91%,烯烷比(O/P)为3.40。     

Modeling and optimization of industrial Fischer–Tropsch synthesis with the slurry bubble column reactor and iron-based catalyst

To optimize industrial Fischer–Tropsch(FT) synthesis with the slurry bubble column reactor(SBCR) and ironbased catalyst, a comprehensive process model for FT synthesis that includes a detailed SBCR model, gas liquid separation model, simplified CO_2 removal model and tail gas cycle model was developed. An effective iteration algorithm was proposed to solve this process model, and the model was validated by industrial demonstration experiments data(SBCR with 5.8 m diameter and 30 m height), with a maximum relative error b 10% for predicting the SBCR performances. Subsequently, the proposed model was adopted to optimize the industrial SBCR performances simultaneously considering process and reactor parameters variations. The results show that C_(5+) yield increases as catalyst loading increases within 10–70 ton and syngas H_2/CO value decreases within1.3–1.6, but it doesn't increase obviously when the catalyst loading exceeds 45 ton(about 15 wt% concentration).Higher catalyst loading will result in higher difficulty for wax/catalyst separation and higher catalyst cost. Therefore, the catalyst loading(45 ton) is recommended for the industrial demonstration SBCR operation at syngas H_2/CO = 1.3, and the C_(5+) yield is about 402 ton" per day, which has an about 16% increase than the industrial demonstration run result.     

双催化层固定床甲烷化反应器CFD模拟

温度分布直接影响着固定床甲烷化反应器的甲烷产量和设备安全性。以年产12.75亿立方煤制天然气绝热甲烷化反应器为研究对象,在建立真实设备三维模型的基础上,利用ANSYS-CFX有限元数值模拟的方法,建立多孔介质内化学反应、热交换与质量传递的气-固两相反应器模型,获得了双段固定床甲烷化反应器内部温度、压力、速度场的分布规律及甲烷产率分布。对不同床层结构对应的特征场分布进行了探索,分析了床层结构对各特征场分布的影响,确定了床层结构优化方案,MCR催化剂床层出口处支撑延长的结构更有利于温度场沿反应器径向的均匀分布和甲烷质量分数的提高。对反应器入口温度、空速、压力对特征参数分布的影响进行了研究,提出了针对本工艺的允许入口参数波动范围。     

FT合成反应器的研究进展

费托（FT）合成反应是强放热反应,为了有效移热,反应器的研制开发是这一方案有效实施的关键。本文较系统地分析了FT合成工业化主流反应器的发展和使用状况,同时对近几年新近出现的几种新型FT合成反应器,如微通道反应器、径向反应器、新型流化床反应器、带扩径段的浆态床反应器和环流浆态床反应器进行了分类和介绍。通过对这些介绍,对反应器的特点和发展状况进行了分析和展望。     

Modeling of methanol synthesis in a 3-phase fixed-bed reactor

The authors propose a new reactor concept for Methanol Synthesis from CO + CO₂ + H₂ mixtures : a down-flow, liquid-continuous, fixed-bed reactor operating at high liquid circulating rate. The two reversible reactions for methanol and water production are modeled simultaneously to provide information for reactor sizing and scaling up. A method for derivating expressions to easily calculate the concentration profiles of the five reacting species inside the catalyst pellets is introduced.     

Dynamic modeling of the methanol synthesis fixed-bed reactor

A dynamic model for a fixed-bed reactor for methanol synthesis is presented. The model is compared with its steady state version. The analysis points out that the numerical stability of the dynamic model is improved by opportunely increasing the level of detail. It is appropriate to introduce the diffusion terms, to work with mass fractions, to select good discretization methods for each term of the model equations. Since these aspects are usually neglected in steady state analysis, this paper investigates step-by-step their implementation, emphasizing their importance (I) in the transformation of an original hyperbolic PDE system into a parabolic PDE system; (II) in removing non-physical oscillations generated by first-order systems that may lead to relevant model prediction errors; and (III) in the approximation of the convection terms using the forward formulation, which is more stable and provides more realistic solutions.     

Performance of a multi-slit packed bed microstructured reactor in the synthesis of methanol: Comparison with a laboratory fixed-bed reactor

The performance of a multi-slit Integrated Micro Packed Bed Reactor-Heat Exchanger (IMPBRHE) for methanol synthesis from synthesis gas over Cu/ZnO/support commercial catalyst was experimentally investigated from a reaction engineering perspective. Through establishment of a systematic comparison strategy, performance comparison with a laboratory scale tubular Fixed-Bed Reactor (FBR) with three different dilution ratios was made to evaluate the IMPBRHE. The productivity, thermal behavior, activity of body materials, pressure drop and residence time distribution (RTD) of the two reactor types were investigated. The IMPBRHE outperformed the undiluted FBR and gave CO conversions comparable to the diluted FBRs. The main difference is ascribed to superior heat exchange properties of the IMPBRHE, which can improve reactor performance for an exothermic reaction such as methanol synthesis. The results reveal advantages of the IMPBRHE for robust scale up.     

Preparation and properties of supported cobalt catalysts for Fischer-Tropsch synthesis

Alumina-supported cobalt catalysts have been prepared from different cobalt precursors to study the influence of the precursor on the ultimate metal particle size. Furthermore, the effect of the particle size on the catalytic performance (activity and selectivity) during Fischer-Tropsch synthesis has been investigated. The preparation of low-loaded cobalt catalysts (2.5 wt%) by incipient wetness impregnation using cobalt EDTA and ammonium cobalt citrate precursors resulted initially in very small cobalt oxide particles, as determined by XPS. The small oxide particles reacted during the thermal treatment in a reducing gas flow with the alumina support to cobalt aluminate, which was neither active nor selective during Fischer-Tropsch synthesis. The catalysts prepared with cobalt nitrate had larger particles that could be easily reduced to metallic cobalt. These catalysts were active under reaction conditions. High-loaded cobalt catalysts (5.0 wt%) prepared using ammonium cobalt citrate showed a larger particle size than the low-loaded catalyst prepared from the citrate precursor. The extent of reduction to metallic cobalt that could be achieved with the high-loaded catalyst was significantly higher than that with the low-loaded catalyst, as shown by magnetic measurements. Accordingly, the high-loaded catalyst exhibited a reasonable activity and, in addition, an interesting and remarkably high selectivity toward higher hydrocarbons, and also a very high Schultz-Flory parameter.