Fischer Tropsch (FT) Reactor
OxEon’s Fischer Tropsch reactor technology produces a mixture of liquid hydrocarbons, a synthetic crude as it were containing components similar to jet and diesel fuel. Synthetic fuel can be considered as an energy storage medium in a form that can be readily transported and stored for use weeks, months or years later. The Fischer Tropsch reactor requires a feedstock of synthesis gas (i.e. carbon monoxide and hydrogen) at pressure to generate hydrocarbon products. The resulting FT liquid fuel product is a mixture of hydrocarbons, mainly of n-paraffins of C5 to C40 in length. OxEon utilizes a two-part product collection step in which the longer hydrocarbon chains are condensed at a higher temperature and separated from the shorter chains and produced water.
The longer hydrocarbon chains, of length C20 to C40, are a solid at room temperature known as FT paraffin wax, while the shorter hydrocarbon chains, a mixture of length C5 to C20, are a liquid at room temperature known as FT oil. Due to the stoichiometry of the reaction, a byproduct of water, approximately two-parts water to one-part fuel by weight, is also produced from the process and must be separated out. For preferential production of wax or oil, operating conditions of the FT reactor can be optimized to promote shorter or longer hydrocarbon chain growth.
The FT reactor design uses industry-standard materials and modular, centralized construction to reduce the cost of the reactor and associated hardware. The targeted market for this reactor are smaller capacity synthetic fuel production plants, initially in the range of 100 – 5000 BPD capacity.
OxEon estimates that it can produce a reactor at a 25% cost savings compared to alternative reactor designs in the targeted size range based on industry studies and modeling. Due to the requirement of synthesis gas as a feedstock, this technology integrates with OxEon’s other expertise in producing synthesis gas via our plasma reformer or solid oxide co-electrolysis technologies. Through integration of these technologies, abundant low-cost natural resources such as natural gas or biogas or renewable electric power can be used to produce a liquid fuel of high value and energy density.
Renewable energy sources regularly produce excess electricity at times and are insufficient at other times, while batteries have proven to be expensive and inefficient in capacity to accommodate the intermittency. When paired with solid oxide co-electrolysis process, Fischer Tropsch technology provide an efficient means of storing renewable energy in the form of a liquid fuel. OxEon’s Fischer Tropsch Reactor and associated technologies offer the solution to this problem by generating a clean, high value liquid fuel from low-cost abundant resources. Contact OxEon about our Fischer Tropsch Reactor technology and discuss a customized solution today.
Ask an OxEon Expert how we can help with:
- Ruggedized Hermetic SOEC Stacks Hydrogen/Oxygen/Syngas Production (SOEC)
- SOFC Stacks for Power Generation (SOFC)
- Systems Development Support
- Supporting Technologies for Liquid Fuel Production (Fischer Tropsch or Plasma Reformer Technologies)
