PATENT

2896. -----. [RUHRCHEMIE, A.G.] Cooling Reactors for the Hydrogenation of Carbon Monoxide.  British Patent 677,470, Aug. 13, 1952.  Chem. Abs., vol. 47, 1953, p. 295.

Synthesis gas flowing downward through the catalyst bed of a Fischer-Tropsch reactor is cooled, and a positive temperature gradient is maintained in the direction of gas flow by indirect heat transfer to a solution having a solvent compound or an azeotropic mixture that vaporizes under the conditions in the reactor.  The boiling point of the solution should vary with relatively small changes in concentration so that the boiling point of the lower layers is 5°-20° higher than the boiling point of the upper layers of solution in the reactor.  Aqueous solutions of CaCl₂, MgCl₂, or NaOH are particularly well suited for use as the solution.