The thermal stability of Fischer–Tropsch reactor with a stationary layer of catalyst particles

The approximation of small-scale fluctuations is used to investigate the thermal stability of a reactor with a stationary layer of catalyst particles for synthesizing liquid hydrocarbons by the Fischer–Tropsch technology. In the case of macrolevel simulation of the processes of heat and mass transfer occurring in the reactor, the microprocesses occurring within a porous particle are taken into account. The conditions, which provide for the thermal stability of reactor in the approximation of small-scale fluctuations of temperature and concentration of synthesis gas, are found from the solutions of eigenvalue problems for spherical particles of catalyst and cylindrical reactor. The processes of diffusion drag in particle pores are simulated, as well as the heat release in the bulk of particles and the cooling down of the reactor walls. The estimates of the limits of thermal stability of a catalytic reactor are compared with the results of numerical simulation of unsteady behavior of temperature and concentration of synthesis gas.