Effect of operating variables on the gas holdup in a large-scale slurry bubble column reactor operating with an organic liquid mixture

Journal Article · Mon Mar 01 04:00:00 EST 1999 · Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1021/ie980384q· OSTI ID:338595

Inga, J R; Morsi, B I ^[1]

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1. Univ. of Pittsburgh, PA (United States). Chemical and Petroleum Engineering Dept.

The effects of gas velocity, system pressure, and catalyst loading on gas holdup of H{sub 2}, N{sub 2}, CO, and CH{sub 4} in an organic mixture of hexanes were investigated in a 0.316 m diameter, 2.8 m height slurry bubble column reactor operating with a commercial Fischer-Tropsch iron-based catalyst. The data were obtained in the churn-turbulent flow regime with catalyst loading up to 50 wt % and a system pressure up to 8 bar. The hydrostatic pressure head method and the dynamic gas disengagement technique were employed to obtain the gas holdup profile and the values corresponding to different gas bubble sizes in the reactor. The experimental data showed that the gas holdup consists mainly of two classes of gas bubbles, small and large. The gas holdup data for the gases used were found to increase with pressure and superficial gas velocity due to the increase of the volume fraction of the small and large gas bubbles, respectively. The increase of catalyst loading, however, appeared to decrease the gas holdup values, due to the decrease of the volume fraction of the small gas bubbles. Statistical and empirical correlations for gas holdup data were proposed.

• OSTI ID: 338595
• Journal Information: Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research, Journal Name: Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research Journal Issue: 3 Vol. 38; ISSN IECRED; ISSN 0888-5885
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT
10 SYNTHETIC FUELS
CARBON MONOXIDE
CHEMICAL REACTORS
FISCHER-TROPSCH SYNTHESIS
GAS FLOW
HEXANE
HYDROGEN
METHANE
NITROGEN
PARAMETRIC ANALYSIS