Effect of H{sub 2}/CO ratio on Fischer-Tropsch synthesis in a slurry reactor with cobalt-based catalyst

The effect of syngas having different H{sub 2}/CO ratios on Fischer-Tropsch synthesis in a slurry bubble column reactor with a Cobalt-based catalyst was assessed using a simple reactor model. The data and catalyst used in this model were from Bechtel studies (1990). It was found that hydrogen is likely to become the rate limiting reactant, even at relatively low catalyst activities, not because of gas-liquid mass transfer, but due to the depletion of hydrogen in the gas phase. This will reduce the H{sub 2}/CO ratio in the liquid phase which will consequently decrease the reaction rate and affect the product selectivity. The increase of catalyst concentration appeared not to affect the reactor performance, when using a syngas with low H{sub 2}/CO ratios.