Process for producing liquid and, optionally, gaseous products from gaseous reactants

A process for producing liquid and, optionally, gaseous hydrocarbon products from gaseous reactants, which process comprises

• feeding gaseous reactants capable of reacting to form a liquid hydrocarbon product, into a slurry bed of catalyst particles suspended in a suspension liquid;
• as the gaseous reactants pass upwardly through the slurry bed, allowing them to react at elevated temperature and at elevated pressure sufficient to form the liquid hydrocarbon product and, optionally, a gaseous hydrocarbon product;
• separating the liquid hydrocarbon product from the catalyst particles by passing, in a filtration zone within the slurry bed, the liquid hydrocarbon product through a filtering medium in a first direction, so that a cake of solid catalyst particles forms on the filtering medium, while maintaining through the filtration zone a superficial gas velocity sufficient to maintain the slurry bed in a state of suspension and while applying a pressure differential across the filtering medium and the cake;
• interrupting the passage of liquid hydrocarbon product through the filtering medium;
• backflushing the filtering medium by passing a flushing liquid through the filtering medium in a second direction, opposite to the first direction, for a sufficient period of time and at a sufficient flushing liquid flow rate, while maintaining a pressure differential across the filtering medium and any filter cake build-up thereon, to dislodge the cake from the filtering medium;
• subjecting the filtering medium to a waiting period during which no filtering or backflushing therethrough takes place, to permit further removal of the filter cake as a result of turbulence within the slurry bed;
• and
• again passing liquid hydrocarbon product through the filtering medium in the first direction so that a cake of solid catalyst particles again forms on the filtering medium.