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Simultaneous Process Design of a Cooled Tubular Fischer–Tropsch Reactor
Author(s) -
Pretti Evan,
Ludy John,
Pico Carlos,
Baltrusaitis Jonas
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
energy technology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.91
H-Index - 44
eISSN - 2194-4296
pISSN - 2194-4288
DOI - 10.1002/ente.202000683
Subject(s) - fischer–tropsch process , controllability , context (archaeology) , process engineering , petrochemical , process (computing) , catalysis , materials science , mass transfer , heat transfer , nuclear engineering , chemical engineering , mechanical engineering , engineering , chemistry , computer science , waste management , thermodynamics , physics , organic chemistry , paleontology , mathematics , chromatography , selectivity , biology , operating system
Few examples of complex petrochemical industry simultaneous designs exist that address dynamic controllability of exothermal reactors. Herein, a multi‐stage design for a cooled tubular Fischer–Tropsch reactor is presented. This steady‐state design is optimized, and a dynamic control scheme is developed in the context of a larger gas‐to‐liquid synthesis process. It is shown that, for the Fe‐based catalyst considered, this multi‐stage configuration reduces both the required heat transfer area and the active catalyst mass in the reactor when compared with a single‐stage approach using a constant catalyst activity. The issues encountered in the dynamic simulation of the control structure for this system are also addressed.