Process for the production of liquid hydrocarbons

A process for the preparation of liquid hydrocarbons which process comprises contacting synthesis gas with a slurry of solid catalyst particles and a liquid in a reactor vessel by introducing the synthesis gas at a low level into the slurry under conditions suitable for conversion of the synthesis gas into liquid hydrocarbons, the solid catalyst particles comprising a catalytically active metal selected from cobalt or iron on a porous refractory oxide carrier, the catalyst being present in an amount between 10 and 40 vol. percent based on total slurry volume liquids and solids;

• and separating liquid material from the solid catalyst particles by using a filtration system comprising an asymmetric filtration medium with a selective side at the slurry side, which filtration system comprises one or more tubular filtration elements, in which filtration system the average pressure differential over the filtration medium is at least 0.1 bar and the rate of filtration is between 5.10−6 and 5.10−3 m/s/bar, in which process the particle size distribution is such that at least 1 wt percent of the catalyst particles, based on the total amount of catalyst particles, is smaller than the average pore size of the selective layer of the filtration medium.

A process for the preparation of liquid hydrocarbons which process comprises contacting synthesis gas with a slurry of solid catalyst particles and a liquid in a reactor vessel by introducing the synthesis gas at a low level into the slurry under conditions suitable for conversion of the synthesis gas into liquid hydrocarbons, the solid catalyst particles comprising a catalytically active metal selected from cobalt or iron on a porous refractory oxide carrier, the catalyst being present in an amount between 10 and 40 vol. percent based on total shiny volume liquids and solids, and separating liquid material from the solid catalyst particles by using a filtration system comprising an asymmetric filtration medium with a selective side at the slurry side, which filtration system comprises one or more tubular filtration elements, in which filtration system the average pressure differential over the filtration medium is at least 0.1 bar, in which process the particle size distribution is such that at least 1 wt percent of the catalyst particles, based on the total amount of catalyst particles, is smaller than the average pore size of the selective layer of the filtration medium, the conditions and the asymmetric filtration medium being effective to permit an uninterrupted filtration run of 402 hours or more.