International-Mexican Congress on Chemical Reaction Engineering (IMCCRE 2020)

Zacatecas, México, June 7-10, 2020 (J. Ancheyta and Muthanna Al-Dahhan, Editors)

Design of Non Isothermal Reactor for Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis

C.A. Muñoz-Huerta 1, L.A. Díaz-Trujillo 1, G. Jiménez-García 2, H. Hernández-Escoto 3,
R. Maya-Yescas *,1
1
Facultad de Ingeniería Química, Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo
Ciudad Universitaria, 58030, Morelia, Michoacán de Ocampo, México
2
Departamento de Ingeniería Biomédica, Instituto Tecnológico Superior de Pátzcuaro
Av. Tecnológico #1, Tzurumútaro, 61615, Pátzcuaro, Michoacán de Ocampo, México
3
Departamento de Ingeniería Química, Universidad de Guanajuato
Campus Noria Alta, Guanajuato, 36050, Guanajuato, México
(*) Corresponding author: rmayay@umich.mx

Keywords: Fischer-Tropsch synthesis, chemical reactor design, Co-based catalyst, energy balance.

1. Introduction
Fischer-Trospch synthesis (FTS) is a catalytic process that produces long chain
hydrocarbons from synthesis gas (H2 + CO). There are several catalyst to perform FTS,
being one kind of them those based on Cobalt, which exhibit the great advantage to be
selective to n-paraffins and 1-olefins. More advantages of this process are absence of
sulfur, nitrogen, and no aromatics content in the final product [1]. The complex reactions
present in FTS are highly exothermic polymerization-like reactions, hence it is necessary to
design the FTS reactor to ensure stable reaction conditions. Increasing computer
capabilities and better understanding of fundamentals in heterogeneous and organometallic
chemistry have inspired the construction of microkinetic models for FTS, among them,
single-event microkinetics (SEMK) models preserve fundamentals of reaction rates,
meanwhile restricting the number of adjustable kinetic parameters[2,3].
Based on a SEMK-FTS recently developed, in this work the design of a non-isothermal
plug flow reactor, is presented. The aim is to evaluate, quantitatively, the major influence of
operating temperature on products distribution at short times.

2. Experimental/methodology
The kinetic model developed a mass and energy balance for FT reactions. Hence, in this
work a pseudo-homogeneous one-dimensional model (ideal plug-flow) was applied. The
continuity equation of a reference product over an infinitesimal catalyst mass element
Wcat, can be written as:
d Fi
=Ri i=1 , 2… ( 2 n+2 ) (1)
d W cat
Initial conditions are:
F i ( 0 )=0 when W 0cat=0 (2)
 International-Mexican Congress on Chemical Reaction Engineering (IMCCRE 2020)
Zacatecas, México, June 7-10, 2020 (J. Ancheyta and Muthanna Al-Dahhan, Editors)

(2 n+2) continuity equations, one for each product with chain length between 1 and n,
are numerically integrated up for every simulated condition, considering:

Fi
Pi=P0 (3)
FT
2 n +2
Here :i=CO , H 2 y H 2 O ; F T = ∑ Fi.
i=1

Temperature dependence of rate coefficients is expressed through Arrhenius

relationship, and equilibrium constants are expressed by Van’t Hoff equation.

2.1. Energy balance

The energy balance is represented by Equation (4), considering the number of reactions
computed in the mass balance, the average heat capacity (C p) (Equation 5) involving all
species generated by Fischer-Tropsch reactions, and the heat of each reaction (∆ H j).
2 n+2
−∑ ∆ HjRj
dT j=1 (4)
=
d W cat F T Cp
nc
Fi
Cp=∑ Cp (5)
i =1 FT i

3. Results and discussion

Production profiles of hydrocarbons were generated by simulation. It is interesting to notice
that methanation reaction decrease its importance in comparison with the isothermal case,
because of the high activation energy of its formation as first brick of the Fischer-Tropsch
synthesis. Current results are used to design controls for temperature during these highly
exothermal reactions.

Acknowledgements
Authors really appreciate financial support by Project 20.20 (CIC-UMSNH). CAMH
thanks CONACYT for the scholarship received during these studies. GJG, HHE and RMY
deeply appreciate researcher grants from SNI-CONACYT.

References
[1]. R Rauch, A Kiennemann, A Sauciuc, The Role of Catalysis for the Sustainable Production. 12 (2013) 414-415.
[2]. AY Khodakov, W Chu, P Fongarland, Chem. Rev. 107 (2007) 1692–1744.
[3]. LA Díaz-Trujillo, G Toledo-Chávez, G Jiménez-García, H Hernández-Escoto, R Maya-Yescas, International Journal
of Chemical Reactor Engineering 16 (2018) 20170219.