Separation of Primary Alcohols and Saturated Alkanes from Fisher–Tropsch Synthesis Products

A method for separating primary alcohols and saturated alkanes from the products of Fisher–Tropsch synthesis is developed. The separation scheme consists of three steps: (1) the raw material is pre-separated by fractional distillation into four fractions according to normal boiling points; (2) appropriate extractants are selected to separate the primary alcohols from the saturated alkanes in each fraction; (3) the extractants are recovered by azeotropic distillation and the primary alcohols in the extract phase are purified. Based on the proposed method, the total recovery rates of the primary alcohols and the saturated alkanes are 86.23% and 84.62% respectively.

Graphical abstractA method for separating primary alcohols and saturated alkanes from the products of a Fisher–Tropsch synthesis has been developed in this paper. The separation scheme consists of three steps: first, the raw material is pre-separated by fractional distillation into four fractions according to normal boiling points; secondly, appropriate extractants are selected to separate the primary alcohols from the saturated alkanes in each of the fractions; and finally, the extractants are recovered by azeotropic distillation and the primary alcohols in the extract phase are purified. Based on the proposed method, the total recovery rates of the primary alcohols and the saturated alkanes were 86.23% and 84.62% respectively.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide