(671c) Microfibrous Entrapped Catalyst Structure for Alternative Fuel Production

Microfibrous entrapped catalyst (MFEC) is a general catalyst network made of highly thermal conductive micro-sized metal fibers with fine catalyst particles embedded inside. MFEC can entrap both self-made and pre-manufactured catalysts. It is characterized with enhanced intra-bed heat transfer and improved mass transfer. Because of the use of fine catalyst particles and less intraparticle mass transfer resistance, MFEC demonstrated similar reaction rate at a much lower catalyst inventory than the traditional packed beds. Due to the highly conductive micron-sized metal fibrous network, MFEC demonstrated more than 45 times higher thermal conductivity than a traditional packed bed and generated a near-isothermal temperature profile inside the reactor. As a result a fixed bed made of MFEC can provide an easy temperature control and high product selectivity for highly exothermic reactions involved in GTL and CTL processes such as Fischer-Tropsch synthesis (FTS), methanol synthesis. GTL reactors made of MFEC has less part count, smaller balance of plant, higher product selectivity, and enhanced modularity.