FischerTropsch process

The FischerTropsch process is a collection of chemical reactions that converts a

mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen into liquid hydrocarbons. The
process, a key component of gas to liquids technology, produces a synthetic
lubrication oil and synthetic fuel, typically from coal, natural gas, or biomass.

Reaction Mechanism
The FischerTropsch process involves a series of chemical reactions that produce
a variety of hydrocarbons, ideally alkanes.
FischerTropsch plants associated with coal or related solid feedstocks (sources
of carbon) must first convert the solid fuel into gaseous reactants, i.e., CO, H2,
and alkanes. This conversion is called gasification and the product is
called synthesis gas ("syngas"). Depending on the source of the syngas, the
technology is often referred to as coal-to-liquids (CTL) and/or gas-to-liquids (GTL).
Examples of current operating CTL plants include Sasol's Sasolburg I and II plant,
and an example of a GTL FT process is Shell's plant in Bintulu, Malaysia.
Coal-based FischerTropsch plants produce varying amounts of CO2, depending upon the energy
source of the gasification process. However, most coal-based plants rely on the feed coal to supply all
the energy requirements of the FischerTropsch process.

Catalyst
A variety of catalysts can be used for the FischerTropsch process, but the most common are
the transition metals cobalt, iron, and ruthenium. Nickel can also be used, but tends to favor methane
formation (methanation).

LTFT & HTFT

A variety of catalysts can be used for the FischerTropsch process, but the most common are
the transition metals cobalt, iron, and ruthenium. Nickel can also be used, but tends to favor methane
formation (methanation).

COMMERCIALIZATION
The FischerTropsch process has been applied in large-scale gasliquids and coalliquid facilities such as Shell's Pearl
GTL facility in Ras Laffan, Qatar. Such large facilities are susceptible to high capital costs, high operation and maintenance
costs, the uncertain and volatile price of crude oil, and the involvement of potentially environmentally damaging processes.
In particular, the use of natural gas as a feedstock becomes practical only with use of "stranded gas", i.e., sources of natural
gas far from major cities which are impractical to exploit with conventional gas pipelines and LNG technology; otherwise,
the direct sale of natural gas to consumers would become much more profitable.

Figure 1 shows a simplified block flow diagram of a process incorporating FT synthesis. The gasification island consists of
all the supporting process technologies of coal handling & feed preparation, heat recovery, syngas cleanup and
conditioning, water-gas-shift, sulfur recovery, etc. The clean syngas leaving the gasification island is sent onto the FT
synthesis island, where the clean shifted syngas is converted into primary products of wax, hydrocarbon condensate, tail gas,
and reaction water. The wax is sent on to an upgrading unit for hydrocracking in the presence of hydrogen, where it is
chemically split into smaller molecular weight hydrocarbon liquids. A hydrogen recovery unit is used to extract the required
quantity of hydrogen from the tail gas as shown, or alternatively from the feed syngas stream. The reaction products, along
with that from the upgrading section, are fractionated into the final products of diesel, naphtha, and other light ends,
depending on the desired product mix. The production facility is supported by several utility plants, including the power
train.