Influence of Particle Size and Single-Tube Diameter on Thermal Behavior of Fischer-Tropsch Reactors. Part I. Particle Size Variation for Constant Tube Size and Vice Versa

Title data

Jess, Andreas ; Kern, Christoph:
Influence of Particle Size and Single-Tube Diameter on Thermal Behavior of Fischer-Tropsch Reactors. Part I. Particle Size Variation for Constant Tube Size and Vice Versa.
In: Chemical Engineering & Technology. Vol. 35 (2012) Issue 2 . - pp. 369-378.
ISSN 1521-4125
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/ceat.201100615

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Abstract in another language

Simulation of a single tube of a wall-cooled multitubular Fischer-Tropsch (FT) reactor with a cobalt catalyst indicates that the reactor performance is improved by enlarging the catalyst particle diameter. This aspect is studied for variation of the particle size for a fixed tube diameter and vice versa. For a syngas conversion per pass of about 30 % as target and a typical industrially used single-tube diameter of 40 mm, a particle size of > 3 mm is appropriate with regard to a high production rate of higher hydrocarbons. For a particle diameter of < 3 mm, a temperature runaway can only be avoided by rather low cooling temperatures, and the target conversion cannot be reached. In addition, the pressure drop then gets rather high. The reasons for this behavior are: (i) the heat transfer to the cooled tube wall for a given tube size is considerably enhanced by increasing the particle size; (ii) the influence of pore diffusion on the effective rate gets stronger with rising particle size which decreases the danger of temperature runaway.

Further data

Item Type:	Article in a journal
Refereed:	Yes
Keywords:	Cobalt catalyst Fischer-Tropsch synthesis Fixed-bed reactor Reactor modeling
Institutions of the University:	Faculties > Faculty of Engineering Science Faculties > Faculty of Engineering Science > Chair Chemical Engineering Faculties > Faculty of Engineering Science > Chair Chemical Engineering > Chair Chemical Engineering - Univ.-Prof. Dr.-Ing. Andreas Jess Faculties
Result of work at the UBT:	Yes
DDC Subjects:	500 Science > 540 Chemistry 600 Technology, medicine, applied sciences > 600 Technology 600 Technology, medicine, applied sciences > 620 Engineering 600 Technology, medicine, applied sciences > 660 Chemical engineering
Date Deposited:	22 Jan 2015 06:52
Last Modified:	22 Jan 2015 06:52
URI:	https://eref.uni-bayreuth.de/id/eprint/5742