459
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
K. K. Pant et al. (eds.), Catalysis for Clean Energy and Environmental
Sustainability, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-65021-6_15
Recent Advancements and Detailed
Understanding of Kinetics for Synthesis
Gas Conversion into Liquid Fuel
Sonal, Virendra Kumar Saharan, Suja George, Rohidas Bhoi, and K. K. Pant
Abstract Currently, there is a renewed interest in producing liquid fuel from fossil
and renewable feedstocks such as coal and biomass via gasification followed by
liquefaction, and the processes are CTL (coal to liquid) and BTL (biomass to liquid). Fischer-Tropsch (FT) synthesis has been applied extensively in this process
and is considered as the major route for the direct conversion of syngas into liquid
fuel employing suitable catalyst systems and conditions. Kinetic study of the syngas
conversion process is a prerequisite for the reactor design, optimization, and scaleup study of the process. Therefore, a clear understanding of the kinetics of the process, which includes the rate of feed consumption as well as the rate of product
formation, is an ultimate requirement. However, a huge number of simultaneous
chain reactions and the complicated reaction network of the FT process make it very
stimulating to develop the kinetic model for the system. The detailed mechanistic
modeling of FT reactions needs an understanding of complex reaction mechanisms.
The knowledge is employed as a bridge to connect the experimental results with a
complex mechanistic reaction network to predict the quantitative values of product
formation rate and syngas consumption rate. The kinetics of the FT process always
remains the topic of debate; however, continuous improvement has been observed
in the models and their results. Still, substantial diversity is observed in the developed models. In the present chapter, recent knowledge addition and advancement in
the kinetic modeling have been demonstrated. The step-wise development in the
Sonal (*) · V. K. Saharan · S. George
Department of Chemical Engineering, Malaviya National Institute of Technology Jaipur,
Jaipur, Rajasthan, India
e-mail: sonal.chem@mnit.ac.in
R. Bhoi
Department of Chemical Engineering, Malaviya National Institute of Technology Jaipur,
Jaipur, Rajasthan, India
Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay,
Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
K. K. Pant
Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi,
New Delhi, Delhi, India
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
K. K. Pant et al. (eds.), Catalysis for Clean Energy and Environmental
Sustainability, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-65021-6_15
Recent Advancements and Detailed
Understanding of Kinetics for Synthesis
Gas Conversion into Liquid Fuel
Sonal, Virendra Kumar Saharan, Suja George, Rohidas Bhoi, and K. K. Pant
Abstract Currently, there is a renewed interest in producing liquid fuel from fossil
and renewable feedstocks such as coal and biomass via gasification followed by
liquefaction, and the processes are CTL (coal to liquid) and BTL (biomass to liquid). Fischer-Tropsch (FT) synthesis has been applied extensively in this process
and is considered as the major route for the direct conversion of syngas into liquid
fuel employing suitable catalyst systems and conditions. Kinetic study of the syngas
conversion process is a prerequisite for the reactor design, optimization, and scaleup study of the process. Therefore, a clear understanding of the kinetics of the process, which includes the rate of feed consumption as well as the rate of product
formation, is an ultimate requirement. However, a huge number of simultaneous
chain reactions and the complicated reaction network of the FT process make it very
stimulating to develop the kinetic model for the system. The detailed mechanistic
modeling of FT reactions needs an understanding of complex reaction mechanisms.
The knowledge is employed as a bridge to connect the experimental results with a
complex mechanistic reaction network to predict the quantitative values of product
formation rate and syngas consumption rate. The kinetics of the FT process always
remains the topic of debate; however, continuous improvement has been observed
in the models and their results. Still, substantial diversity is observed in the developed models. In the present chapter, recent knowledge addition and advancement in
the kinetic modeling have been demonstrated. The step-wise development in the
Sonal (*) · V. K. Saharan · S. George
Department of Chemical Engineering, Malaviya National Institute of Technology Jaipur,
Jaipur, Rajasthan, India
e-mail: sonal.chem@mnit.ac.in
R. Bhoi
Department of Chemical Engineering, Malaviya National Institute of Technology Jaipur,
Jaipur, Rajasthan, India
Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay,
Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
K. K. Pant
Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi,
New Delhi, Delhi, India