Opportunities for intensification of Fischer–Tropsch synthesis through reduced formation of methane over cobalt catalysts in microreactors

Abstract

In this review we discuss the reasons responsible for higher than expected methane selectivity during Fischer–Tropsch synthesis (FTS) over cobalt-based catalysts and describe novel microreactors for use in FTS.

Scale up study of capillary microreactors in solvent-free semihydrogenation of 2‐methyl‐3‐butyn‐2‐ol

“…However, considering that the vast majority of modern chemical processes utilise heterogeneous catalysts to replace stoichiometric reactions due to obvious economic and environmental advantages, the application of catalytic coatings in microreactors is disproportionately scarcely studied [17]. A few gas-phase heterogeneously catalysed reactions have been studied in various reactions such as Fisher-Tropsch synthesis, CO2 hydrogenation, water gas shift [18], preferential CO oxidation [19], and complete oxidation of organic compounds [20] demonstrating a 2-5 fold increase in reaction rates compared to conventional reactors [21][22][23][24].…”

Liquid fuel synthesis in microreactors

“…Schematic showing the GTL process involving FT 18 2.2 Biomass-to-liquid (BTL) Biomass can typically be categorised into three main categories: (i) vegetable oils such as palm and soybean oil, (ii) carbohydrates for example, starch and sugars and (iii) lignocellulose solid materials derived from wood 15 . Biofuels produced from these feedstocks can be classified into first, second and third generation biofuels.…”

“…Although using a packed bed microreactor has several benefits, these particular reactors are often subject to high pressure drops due to the use of small catalyst pellets. However, it was found that an adequate level of pressure drop can be achieved with substantially small catalyst pellets (100 µm) while retaining a high catalyst effectivity 18 . Using packed bed microreactors has proven to be beneficial for liquid fuel synthesis but they can be subject to plugging or fowling of the channel network due to the use of solid catalyst particles.…”

“…An approach to overcome this is to use carbon nanofibres as a support for the FT process, thus improving the activity per reactor volume. However, the catalysts used were subject to fast deactivation in the FT process 18 . There are often concerns surrounding the development of microreactor technology that relates to the cost of the microreactors, and also in finding ways to replace spent catalysts.…”

“…Some of these conditions may be higher temperatures and pressures. The type of fluid flow found in these particular reactors is typically laminar, as opposed to the slug flow microreactor 18 .…”