ANALYSIS AND OPTIMIZATION OF OPERATIONAL CONDITIONS OF A PACKED BED REACTOR FOR FISCHER-TROPSCH SYNTHESIS

Abstract

Due to the depleting of non-renewable fuel sources, a lot of academic and industrial effort has been made in the search for alternative routes. In this context, Fischer-Tropsch synthesis represents one possible solution. The goal of this work is the study of operational conditions involved in this synthesis, in a packed bed reactor. In this analysis, the system was modelled by taking into account material and energy balances, and kinetic laws and pressure drop in the reactor bed as well. The resulting ordinary differential equations were solved and evaluated in Matlab and operational conditions in the reactor were mapped. Gasoline yield and selectivity were analyzed and optimized through changes in the cooling system of the equipment. In the best operational conditions, gasoline yield was equal to 8 g / 100 g, which is really a good result when compared to pilot plant’s data published in the literature