Separation of Fischer-Tropsch from Catalyst by Supercritical Extraction.

The objective of this research project is to evaluate the potential of supercritical fluid (SCF) extraction for the recovery and fractionation of the wax product from the slurry bubble column (SBC) reactor of the Fischer-Tropsch (F-T) process. The wax, comprised mostly of branched and linear alkanes with a broad molecular weight distribution up to C{sub 100}, will be extracted with a hydrocarbon solvent that has a critical temperature near the operating temperature of the SBC reactor, i.e., 200-300{degrees}C. Initial work is being performed using n-hexane as the solvent