TITLE: Separation of Fischer-Tropsch wax from catalyst by supercritical extraction. Quarterly report, July 1, 1996 - September 30, 1996.

AUTHOR: P. C. Joyce; M. C. Thies; D. Sherrard; J. Biales; P. Kilpatrick.

INST.  AUTHOR: Department of Energy, Pittsburgh, PA. Pittsburgh Energy Technology Center;   Clemson Univ., SC. Dept. of Chemical Engineering.  North Carolina State Univ., Raleigh, NC. Dept. of Chemical Engineering.

LANGUAGE: English

PUB.  TYPE: Technical Report

PUB.  COUNTRY: United States

SOURCE: Department of Energy [DE],  1996,  18p.

NTIS ORDER NO.: DE97051423INW

PRICE: USA, Canada & Mexico:  Paper Copy: $23.00/Microfiche: $12.00;  

ABSTRACT:

The objective of this research projects is to evaluate the potential of SCF extraction for separating the catalyst slurry of a Fischer-Tropsch (F-T) slurry bubble column (SBC) reactor into two fractions: (1) a catalyst-free wax containing less than 10 ppm particulate matter and (2) a concentrated catalyst slurry that is ready for recycle or regeneration.  The wax 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. The success of the projects depends on two major factors. First, the supercritical solvent must be able to dissolve the F-T wax; furthermore, the must be accomplished without entraining the solid catalyst. Second, the extraction must be controlled so as not to favor the removal of the low molecular weight wax compounds, i.e., a constant carbon-number distribution of the alkanes in the wax slurry must be maintained at steady-state column operation. The project includes three tasks (1) equilibrium solubility measurements, (2) thermodynamic modeling, and (3) process design studies.

REPORT  NUMBER: DOE/PC/94219-T8

CONTRACT  NUMBER: FG22-94PC94219