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AssigneeThe United States of America as represented by the Department of Energy
InventorsCurt M. White, Michael S. Quiring, Karen L. Jensen, Richard F. Hickey, Larry D. Gillham
Estimating the term…
In a catalytic process for converting synthesis gas including hydrogen and carbon monoxide to hydrocarbons and oxygenates by a slurry Fischer-Tropsch synthesis, the wax product along with dispersed catalyst is removed from the slurry and purified by removing substantially all of the catalyst prior to upgrading the wax and returning a portion to the Fischer-Tropsch reaction. Separation of the catalyst particles from the wax product is accomplished by dense gas and/or liquid extraction in which the organic compounds in the wax are dissolved and carried away from the insoluble inorganic catalyst particles that are primarily inorganic in nature. The purified catalyst free wax product can be subsequently upgraded by various methods such as hydrogenation, isomerization, hydrocracking, conversion to gasoline and other products over ZSM-5 aluminosilicate zeolite, etc. The catalyst particles are returned to the Fischer-Tropsch Reactor by slurring them with a wax fraction of appropriate molecular weight, boiling point and viscosity to avoid reactor gelation.
A process for converting synthesis gas including hydrogen and carbon monoxide to hydrocarbons wherein the synthesis gas is contacted with a catalyst in a reaction zone, the catalyst having activity for reducing carbon monoxide is dispersed in a liquid to form a slurry and wherein a hydrocarbon wax is produced in the reaction zone, the improvement comprising:
A process for converting synthesis gas to hydrocarbons, the synthesis gas containing hydrogen and carbon monoxide in a molar ratio of not more than 1 to 1 obtained from the gasification of coal comprising the steps of gasifying coal to produce H.sub.2 and CO, synthesizing C.sub.1 to C.sub.900 hydrocarbons and oxygenates, including wax in the range of C.sub.20 to C.sub.900 from H.sub.2 and CO in a Fischer-Tropsch slurry reactor containing a slurry of catalyst having carbon monoxide reduction and water gas shift activity, removing the wax along with a portion of the catalyst from the reactor, extracting the wax into an organic solvent to separate the soluble wax from the insoluble catalyst, returning the catalyst to the reactor, decreasing the density of the organic solvent to precipitate the wax and upgrading the wax product to produce hydrocarbon products, gasoline and distillate material.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.