Systems and methods for catalyst/hydrocarbon product separation

A process for producing hydrocarbons comprising:

• passing gaseous reactants comprising hydrogen and carbon monoxide into a reactor containing a slurry comprising a liquid and a catalyst, wherein the catalyst comprises particles and contains at least one catalytic metal selected from the group consisting of metals from Groups 8, 9, and 10 of the Periodic Table;
• converting at least a portion of gaseous reactants to hydrocarbons over said catalyst, such that a portion of said hydrocarbons are liquid and the slurry includes said liquid hydrocarbons;
• feeding a slurry stream comprising a portion of the slurry to a sedimentation chamber having at least one inclined channel disposed therein, an upper product outlet, and a lower catalyst outlet;
• passing the slurry stream through the at least one inclined channel as most of the catalyst particles settle downwards in the inclined channel so as to form a catalyst-rich stream and a catalyst-lean stream;
• passing the catalyst-lean stream through the upper product outlet of said sedimentation chamber such that the catalyst-lean stream provides at least a portion of the liquid hydrocarbons;
• passing the catalyst-rich stream through the lower catalyst outlet of said sedimentation chamber;
• and
• recycling at least a portion of said catalyst-rich stream to the reactor.