FISCHER TROPSCH PROCESS

Chemical and Alghi Alfiesta (1400610012)| Dionisius Anton Kusuma (1400610025)| Hadyan Hilman Radifan (1400610017)|
Green Process Engineering Keenan Michael (1400610020) | Muhammad Hilmy Hakeem (1400610013)
Purpose
 To synthesis gas mixture ( H2 and CO) to
Hydrocarbon using Fe, CO , and Ru catalysts .
 Why using this method ?
 Oil Prices on the Rise
 Natural Gas Becoming More & More Abundant Far less expensive

Natural Gas Price Trend

Feed and Product
 Feed :
Feed for this FT process ,is called Synthetic Gas, is produced by gasification of
coal, biomass, or organic waste or by reforming natural gas.
 Product :
Product of this FT process is called synthetic crude oil a.k.a syncrude and just
like conventional crude oil , its need further treatment to become final product.
Mechanism
 Synthesis Gas Production:
 Fisher Tropsch Synthesis
 Cracking (HydroCracking)
Flowchart
1. Synthesis gas generation
Synthesis gas generation is method to produce suitable feed for FT process. The product of this
process is called clean syngas.
Flow diagram of this process :
• Feed Preparation
This process include unit operation such as size reduction, screening and slurrying. Design plan for this section is depends on
the properties of raw material feed and the requirement of the gasification technology that is selected.

• Gasification
Gasification. The gasifier is a reactor for the partial oxidation of the carbonbased raw material to produce raw syngas.
This is a high temperature conversion process, and in the gasification zone of the gasifier the temperature is in the range
900–1600oC.

• Steam Generation
The syngas composition can be manipulated by the ratio of steam to raw material feed that is co-fed to the gasifier. The
steam is a source of hydrogen and is essential for feed materials with a low effective hydrogen to carbon (H:C) ratio

• Air Separation
Gasification is a partial oxidation and pure oxygen (O2) is usually the most efficient oxidant. It is possible to use air as
oxidant, but air should not be considered as an oxidant in a gasification process where the energy is supplied by direct
combustion of part of the process feed.

• Syngas Cleaning
The raw syngas produced by the gasifier contains contaminants that are FT catalyst poisons. These contaminants, such as
H2S and halogenated compounds, must be removed from the syngas. It may also be beneficial to remove CO 2 and H2O,
depending on the requirements of the FT gas loop design.
The processing steps for synthesis gas generation by natural gas reforming are somewhat different than for gasification,
even though the processes are fundamentally very similar. The main differences between synthesis gas production by
gasification and gas reforming are as follows:

• Gas Cleaning
The feed preparation and gas cleaning steps are combined and are performed on the natural gas feed.

• Gas Reforming
Unlike gasification that is a purely thermal conversion process, gas reforming often includes a nickel-based reforming
catalyst. However, the reaction chemistry is the same.

• Air Separation
There are two main classes of gas reforming, namely, steam reforming and adiabatic oxidative reforming. In steam
reforming technology the energy to drive the endothermic reforming reaction is externally supplied and the oxidant is not
mixed with the process feed. An air separation unit is therefore not necessary for syngas generation by steam methane
reforming. In adiabatic oxidative reforming, the oxidant is mixed with the process feed and the same arguments as outlined
for gasification applies, ie, an air separation unit is required
Video Proses :
https://youtu.be/SWW9RobCw88
Fischer Tropsch Synthesis
 The FT synthesis section involves the conversion of synthesis gas to long-
chain, heavy paraffinic liquid.
 Large quantities of water are produced as a byproduct, which is required
to be treated before disposal or reuse. Small quantities of CO2, olefins,
oxygenates, and alcohols are also produced as byproducts.
 The reaction is highly exothermic, large quantities of heat are generated in
the process that must be removed. This energy is partially recovered by the
production of steam.
 The product slate from a FT reactor is dependent on the type of catalyst
and the operating conditions of the reactor. The choice of the catalyst is to
some extent related to the type of feed to the GTL plant. For natural gas
feed, a cobalt-based catalyst is more likely to be used.
Chemical Reaction
 The Fischer-Tropsch process is a catalytic chemical reaction in which carbon monoxide
(CO) and hydrogen (H2) in the syngas are converted into hydrocarbons of various
molecular weights according to the following equation:
(2n+1) H2 + n CO → Cn H(2n+2) + n H2O
 The Fischer-Tropsch process conditions are usually chosen to maximize the formation of
higher molecular weight hydrocarbon liquid fuels which are higher value products.
 There are other side reactions taking place in the process, among which the water-gas-
shift reaction is predominant
CO + H2O → H2 + CO2
 Depending on the catalyst, temperature, and type of process employed, hydrocarbons
ranging from methane and low molecular weight oxygenates (e.g., alcohol, organic
acids) to higher molecular paraffins and olefins can be obtained. The Fischer-Tropsch
synthesis reaction, in theory, is a condensation polymerization reaction of CO.
Catalyst
 Catalysts considered for Fischer-Tropsch synthesis are based on transition
metals of iron, cobalt, nickel and ruthenium. FT catalyst development has
largely been focused on the preference for high molecular weight linear
alkanes and diesel fuels production. Among these catalysts, it is generally
known that:
 Nickel (Ni) tends to promote methane formation, as in a methanation process;
thus generally it is not desirable
 Iron (Fe) is relatively low cost and has a higher water-gas-shift activity, and is
therefore more suitable for a lower hydrogen/carbon monoxide ratio (H2/CO)
syngas such as those derived from coal gasification
 Cobalt (Co) is more active, and generally preferred over ruthenium (Ru) because
of the prohibitively high cost of Ru. In comparison to iron, Co has much less
water-gas-shift activity, and is much more costly.
Fischer Tropsch Reactor Types
 The Fischer-Tropsch reaction is highly exothermic; therefore heat removal is
an important factor in the design of a commercial reactor. In general, three
different types of reactor design might be used for FT synthesis:
 Fixed bed reactor

 Fluidized bed reactor

 Slurry bed reactor.

Comparison of Reactors
Using standard catalysts (size typical for the process)
the sequence in the space time yields is
Activity slurry < fixed bed < fluidized bed reactor
using identical catalysts
slurry < fluidized bed < fixed bed reactor

High yields in :
Selectivity • Waxes using isothermal fixed bed and slurry reactors
• Gasoline using fluidized bed and slurry reactors
• Light products using fluidized bed reactors
Comparison of Reactors
Comparation to Traditional Production Methods
 Comparing liquid transportation fuels production from coal gasification to fuels from
traditional production methods is a difficult undertaking because of the vastly
diverse configuration options available for gasification processing.
 Traditionally, fuels like gasoline and diesel are refined from crude oil, a
(comparatively) more uniform feedstock than coal, biomass, petcoke, refinery waste,
etc. which are used in FT
 As a relatively new approach to producing liquid fuels, gasification has not had
years of refinement to develop a "best," most productive or cost-efficient approach,
in part, due to the flexibility in choosing feedstock, product, synthesis gas (syngas)
cleaning and conditioning units.
 Essentially, comparing petroleum-refinery produced transportation fuels and
gasification-derived fuels requires design assumptions and limiting the scope of the
comparison in order to arrive at meaningful conclusions.
Benefit
 No Nitrogenous compounds

 No Sulfur compounds

Revenue:
Diesel 3.81 MM
barrels Raw Materials:
Paraffin/Naphtha 0.74 MM barrels Natural Gas 24.7 B cuft

Total: $ 410 MM
Total: $ 67 MM
The disadvantage of fischer tropsch process
 The final product of this method, which is called
syncrude, is a paraffin, and theoritically it means
that the product of this method still have low octane
number, that’s why further treatment is needed
 Heat removal from the process