CFD modeling of a modular reactor for the Fischer-Tropsch synthesis: Effectiveness of a micro-scale cross-current cooling channel

The merits of increasing the width of the catalytic bed in the channel-type Fischer-Tropsch synthesis reactor module were considered in the present study. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling was applied to evaluate the effect of different numbers of layers in the gas distributor on the distribution of inlet flows; the use of more than four layers could guarantee that the fraction of dead volume was less than 3%. To obviate the use of the distributor in the cooling channel and successfully dissipate the heat released in the highly exothermic Fischer-Tropsch synthesis, a cross-current flow pattern was considered. In addition, the CFD model including the kinetic reaction rate was validated by comparison of the experimental and simulated results. The cooling performance of the cross-current channel was found to be as good as that of the counter-current case. Further analysis also showed that even when the height of the catalytic bed was increased, the temperature of the bed was maintained below the allowable limit.