Incorporation of Reaction Kinetics into a Multiphase, Hydrodynamic Model of a Fischer Tropsch Slurry Bubble Column Reactor

This paper describes the development of a computational multiphase fluid dynamics (CMFD) model of the Fischer Tropsch (FT) process in a Slurry Bubble Column Reactor (SBCR). The CMFD model is fundamentally based which allows it to be applied to different industrial processes and reactor geometries. The NPHASE CMFD solver [1] is used as the robust computational platform. Results from the CMFD model include gas distribution, species concentration profiles, and local temperatures within the SBCR. This type of model can provide valuable information for process design, operations and troubleshooting of FT plants. An ensemble-averaged, turbulent, multi-fluid solution algorithm for the multiphase, reacting flow with heat transfer was employed. Mechanistic models applicable to churn turbulent flow have been developed to provide a fundamentally based closure set for the equations. In this four-field model formulation, two of the fields are used to track the gas phase (i.e., small spherical and large slug/cap bubbles), and the other two fields are used for the liquid and catalyst particles. Reaction kinetics for a cobalt catalyst is based upon values reported in the published literature. An initial, reaction kinetics model has been developed and exercised to demonstrate viability of the overall solution scheme. The model will continue to be developed with improved physics added in stages