(539f) Scaleup of SBCRs for Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis

The US oil consumption in 2006 was about 20 million bbl/day representing 25% of the entire worldwide consumption. More than 50% of this oil was imported. Due to the rise in oil prices, and in order to meet the increasing demand for oil and to guarantee independence from imported oil, alternative fuel sources must be developed.

Synthetic fuels produced from coal, natural gas or biomass via Fischer-Tropsch (F-T) synthesis can be directly used as alternative or complementary sources of fuel and are cleaner than oil. They result from syngas (H2+CO) being catalytically converted in a slurry bubble column reactor (SBCR).

In order to model, design and scaleup SBCRs, precise knowledge of the kinetics and hydrodynamic and mass/heat transfer characteristics under actual industrial F-T conditions is required.

The objectives of this research effort are to:

? Measure the hydrodynamic and mass transfer parameters in a large-scale SBCR operating under F-T conditions and statistically assess the effect of operating variables on these parameters.

? Develop novel correlations for predicting these parameters and build a comprehensive reactor model to design, optimize, and scaleup industrial F-T SBCRs.