CHALLENGES FACING THE DESIGN OF NOVEL FISCHER-TROPSCH SYNTHESIS REACTORS AND THE APPROACH FOR ADVANCEMENT

摘要

The discussed limitations have one aspect in common, that being their influence of the process economics; these influences can either be direct in the macro cases (e.g. separation unit's size) or indirect in the micro (e.g. in situ behavior that affects the product distribution). Both issues are being addressed in the current study via the optimization of the process coupled with the attempt to utilize SCF-FTS operation's tunability to selectively control the end product . With that being said, the scale-up of novel FTS reactor technologies from lab-scale to pilot plant scale is still a challenge because product yield and selectivity of a large scale reactor requires a deep understanding of the phase behavior of the reaction mixture, reaction kinetics, mass and heat transfer limitations of catalytic systems and their effects on FTS chemistry. In general, application of non-conventional reaction media in FTS reactor technology has a long way to go before commercialization . This paper describes a novel approach in designing and optimizing such a complex process that requires multi-disciplinary specialties. The introduction of near-critical and supercritical solvents as a new parameter to influence FTS performance shifts the problem from a classical catalytic reaction engineering process to one combined with a thermophysical puzzle . The systematic quantification of the various phenomena affiliated with SCF-FTS operation and the continuous refining by means of accurate experimental data could lead to the accelerated development and eventual commercialization of this novel FTS technology.