PROGRESS TOWARDS MODELING OF FISCHER TROPSCH SYNTHESIS IN A SLURRY BUBBLE COLUMN REACTOR

The Hybrid Energy Systems Testing (HYTEST) Laboratory is being established at the Idaho National Laboratory to develop and test hybrid energy systems with the principal objective to safeguard U.S. Energy Security by reducing dependence on foreign petroleum. A central component of the HYTEST is the slurry bubble column reactor (SBCR) in which the gas-to-liquid reactions will be performed to synthesize transportation fuels using the Fischer Tropsch (FT) process. SBCRs are cylindrical vessels in which gaseous reactants (for example, synthesis gas or syngas) is sparged into a slurry of liquid reaction products and finely dispersed catalyst particles. The catalyst particles are suspended in the slurry by the rising gas bubbles and serve to promote the chemical reaction that converts syngas to a spectrum of longer chain hydrocarbon products, which can be upgraded to gasoline, diesel or jet fuel. These SBCRs operate in the churn-turbulent flow regime which is characterized by complex hydrodynamics, coupled with reacting flow chemistry and heat transfer, that effect reactor performance. The purpose of this work is to develop a computational multiphase fluid dynamic (CMFD) model to aid in understanding the physico-chemical processes occurring in the SBCR. Our team is developing a robust methodology to couple reaction kinetics and mass transfer into a four-field model (consisting of the bulk liquid, small bubbles, large bubbles and solid catalyst particles) that includes twelve species: (1) CO reactant, (2) H2 reactant, (3) hydrocarbon product, and (4) H2O product in small bubbles, large bubbles, and the bulk fluid. Properties of the hydrocarbon product were specified by vapor liquid equilibrium calculations. The absorption and kinetic models, specifically changes in species concentrations, have been incorporated into the mass continuity equation. The reaction rate is determined based on the macrokinetic model for a cobalt catalyst developed by Yates and Satterfield [1]. The model includes heat generation due to the exothermic chemical reaction, as well as heat removal from a constant temperature heat exchanger. Results of the CMFD simulations (similar to those shown in Figure 1) will be presented