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Multidimensional modeling of a microfibrous entrapped cobalt catalyst Fischer‐Tropsch reactor bed
Author(s) -
Challiwala Mohamed Sufiyan,
Wilhite Benjamin A.,
Ghouri Mohammed M.,
Elbashir Nimir O.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
aiche journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.958
H-Index - 167
eISSN - 1547-5905
pISSN - 0001-1541
DOI - 10.1002/aic.16053
Subject(s) - fischer–tropsch process , exothermic reaction , cobalt , catalysis , continuous stirred tank reactor , chemistry , packed bed , chemical engineering , space velocity , mass transfer , limiting , heat transfer , materials science , nuclear engineering , thermodynamics , chromatography , mechanical engineering , engineering , inorganic chemistry , organic chemistry , physics , selectivity
Thermal management of highly exothermic Fischer‐Tropsch synthesis (FTS) has been a challenging bottleneck limiting the radial dimension of the packed‐bed (PB) reactor tube to 1.5 in. ID. A computational demonstration of a novel microfibrous entrapped cobalt catalyst (MFECC) in mitigating hot spot formation has been evaluated. Specifically, a two‐dimensional (2‐D) model was developed in COMSOL ® , validated with experimental data and subsequently employed to demonstrate scale‐up of the FTS bed from 0.59 to 4 in. ID. Significant hot spot of 102.39 K in PB was reduced to 9.4 K in MFECC bed under gas phase at 528.15 K and 2 MPa. Improvement in heat transfer within the MFECC bed facilitates higher productivities at low space velocities (≥1000 h −1 ) corresponding to high CO conversion (≥90%). Additionally, the MFECC reactor provides an eightfold increase in the reactor ID at hot spots ≤ 30 K with CO% conversions ≥ 90%. This model was developed for a typical FTS cobalt‐based catalyst where CO 2 production is negligible. © 2017 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J , 64: 1723–1731, 2018