PATENTS

      1659.  ------.  [INTERNATIONAL HYDROCARBON SYNTHESIS CO.]  Conversion of Carbon Monoxide and Hydrogen Into Hydrocarbons.  British Patent 528,617, Nov. 1, 1940; appl. filed May 11, 1939.  Chem. Abs., vol. 35, 1941, p. 8259.

Conversion is carried out in narrow tubes, bathed in a cooling medium, and containing the catalyst in such a manner that the reacting gases can stream along the walls of the reaction space through a narrow passageway, which is not or only little obstructed by catalyst.  In the middle of the tube no or little space remains unfilled by catalyst.  The tube may be filled with pieces in the form of tablets or pellets having a diameter only a little smaller than the tube width.  The process may be carried out either in the gaseous or the liquid phase.  In an example, the catalyst consists of 85 parts of Co and 15 parts of ThO on 85 parts of kieselguhr.