Hydrodynamic simulation of methanol synthesis in gas-liquid slurry bubble column reactors

a transient, two-dimensional hydrodynamic model for the production of metha nol from syn-gas in an Air Products/DOE LaPorte slurry bubble column reacto r was developed. The model predicts downflow of catalyst at the walls and o scillatory particle and gas flow at the center, with a frequency of about 0 .7 H. The computed temperature variation in the reactor with heat exchanger s was only about 5 degrees K, indicating good thermal management. The compu ted slurry height, the gas holdup and the rate of methanol production agree with LaPorte's reported data. Unlike the previous models in the literature , this model computes the gas and the particle holdups and the particle rhe ology. The only adjustable parameter in the model is the effective particle restitution coefficient. It gives values of granular temperature, random p article oscillating velocities, that agree with measurements in a laborator y slurry bubble column containing the methanol catalyst that was built to a pproximate the La Forte reactor. The computed turbulent kinetic energy or t he granular temperature agrees with similar measurements at Ohio State Univ ersity ina bubble column extrapolated to no particles. (C) 1999 Elsevier Sc ience Ltd. All rights reserved.