1946. ---------------. [KÖLBEL, H., AND ACKERMANN, P.] Hydrogenation of Carbon Monoxide in a Liquid Medium. Bureau of Mines Transl. K-10, 1949, 19 pp.

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Literature Abstracts

Paper read at a meeting of German Chemical Society, September 1948. Synthesis in the liquid phase with a suspended catalyst eliminates completely the disadvantages of synthesis in the vapor phase, such as local overheating of the catalyst, CH₄ formation, hydrocarbon deposition, plugging of the reactors, nonuniform utilization of the catalyst, imperfect cooling, complicated filling and emptying of the reactors, and limitations upon the reactor capacity. The process has been studied chiefly with Fe catalyst and has been developed to the industrial stage and results in higher yields than obtained in the vapor phase with the same CO conversion of up to 175 gm. of hydrocarbons per m.³ CO+H₂ because of the suppression of CH₄ formation. H₂O is formed as a primary product of the reaction upon the Fe catalyst as well as upon the Co catalyst and is converted to CO₂ and H₂ with the CO of the synthesis gas. It is possible to conduct the synthesis over Fe catalyst entirely by way of formation of water and over Co catalyst completely by way of CO₂ formation. It is therefore possible to obtain good yields with CO-rich gases, water gas, or H₂-rich gases with Fe catalyst by properly adjusting the operating conditions. It is shown for the first time that during CO hydrogenation the chain length of the higher molecular weight saturated and unsaturated aliphatic hydrocarbons can be increased. Operating in liquid phase permits the conversion up to 73% of the paraffin hydrocarbons to solid paraffins, so that 1 m.³ of CO+H₂ will produce 152 gm. of paraffin boiling above 320°, of which 95 gm. are formed during CO hydrogenation, and 57 gm. by the lengthening of the C chain.