Synthesis of Gaseous Hydrocarbons from Carbon Monoxide and Water Vapor
Abstract Generated abstract
This paper examines the catalytic synthesis of gaseous hydrocarbons from carbon monoxide and water vapor over an iron copper catalyst, with attention to improving experimental efficiency through statistical planning. The authors used the simplex method of experiment planning to search for favorable process conditions, taking selectivity toward ethylene and total gaseous hydrocarbons in the C2 to C5 range as the output criterion. The experiments identified conditions of 260°C, a space velocity of 40 h^-1, and 100 percent carbon monoxide in the initial mixture as most favorable for hydrocarbon yield. The study also argues that these results are consistent with a mechanism involving chain growth through methylene radicals and demonstrates the applicability of simplex planning to complex catalytic processes.
Full Text
SYNTHESIS OF GASEOUS HYDROCARBONS FROM CARBON MONOXIDE AND WATER VAPOR
S. I. SMOLYANINOV, A. V. KRAVTSOV, V. V. SAMSON
(Presented by the scientific-methodological seminar of the NKTF)
Workers in various branches of the national economy are faced with the task of sharply increasing the effectiveness of research in order to raise productivity, improve product quality, and develop new technological processes.
A powerful means of rationally organizing research work and reducing the costs and time required for its conduct is provided by modern statistical-probabilistic methods of experiment planning [1]. Multifactor planning of research has become widely developed. One such method is the simplex method of experiment planning, which has a number of advantages over other statistical methods and was used in our work [2].
The search for optimal conditions for the synthesis of gaseous hydrocarbons from carbon monoxide and water vapor was carried out on an installation we designed, consisting of three parts:
1) a unit for producing carbon monoxide; 2) a unit for saturating carbon monoxide with water vapor; 3) a unit for synthesis and product capture.
The synthesis was carried out over an iron–copper catalyst.
The initial simplex was calculated according to the procedure described in article [2].
The output parameter of the process was its selectivity with respect to ethylene and to the sum of gaseous hydrocarbons \(C_2—C_5\), which was determined as the ratio of the amount of carbon monoxide consumed in the formation of these hydrocarbons to the total amount of converted carbon monoxide.
As a result of the experiments performed, the most favorable conditions for the synthesis of gaseous hydrocarbons were obtained: temperature—\(260^\circ\mathrm{C}\), space velocity—\(40\ \mathrm{h}^{-1}\), carbon monoxide content in the initial mixture—100%.
The conditions obtained are well explained by the proposed mechanism of the synthesis process. A number of authors assume that the synthesis products are formed through growth of a polymer chain based on the methylene radical—\(\mathrm{CH}_2\) [3, 4].
Conclusions
- Optimal conditions were found for the yield of gaseous hydrocarbons: temperature—\(260^\circ\mathrm{C}\), space velocity—\(40\ \mathrm{h}^{-1}\), carbon monoxide content in the initial mixture—100%.
- The possibility of applying the simplex method to the planning of complex catalytic processes has been demonstrated.
REFERENCES
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Yu. B. Kryukov. The Mechanism of the Synthesis of Organic Compounds from CO and H₂ and the Chemistry of Surface Compounds on Iron Catalysts. Author’s abstract of a dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Technical Sciences. Moscow, 1969.