High performance structured platelet milli-reactor filled with supported cobalt open cell SiC foam catalyst for the Fischer–Tropsch synthesis Yu Liu a , David Edouard a,⇑ , Lâm D. Nguyen b , Dominique Begin a , Patrick Nguyen c , Charlotte Pham c , Cuong Pham-Huu a,⇑ a Laboratoire des Matériaux, Surfaces et Procédés pour la Catalyse, CNRS-Université de Strasbourg (UdS), UMR 7515, 25, rue Becquerel, 67087 Strasbourg Cedex 08, France b Da-Nang University of Technology, University of Da-Nang, 54 Nguyen Luong Bang, Da-Nang, Viet Nam c SICAT Technical Center, Industriestrasse, 1-B310, D-77731 Willstätt, Germany highlights " Open cell SiC foam supported cobalt catalyst for structured reactor. " Catalysts for Fischer–Tropsch synthesis with high activity. " High selectivity due to the isothermal operation conditions. " High stability as a function of time on stream. graphical abstract article info Article history: Received 16 October 2012 Received in revised form 15 February 2013 Accepted 16 February 2013 Available online 26 February 2013 Keywords: Silicon carbide Open cell foam Structured reactor Liquid holdup Fischer–Tropsch synthesis abstract The Fischer–Tropsch synthesis (FTS) was evaluated on a 30 wt.% Co catalyst promoted with 0.1 wt.% of Ru supported on a silicon carbide (SiC) foam in a platelet structured milli-reactor (PSR). The FTS was tested under isothermal conditions according to the Mear’s criterion. The tuneable morphology of the open cell foam (cell size, macroscopic porosity, strut diameter) allows an adjustment of both axial and radial flow patterns in the reactor and ensures local fluid recirculation, which are favorable to heat and mass trans- fer. The large pore size, i.e. meso- and macro-pores of the support allows a rapid escaping of the liquid products leading to a high FTS activity as well a good C 5+ selectivity. The catalytic results obtained in the platelet milli-reactor were compared with those obtained in a ‘conventional’ packed bed tubular reac- tor (TR). The PSR shows a better FTS activity compared to that obtained in the TR and the FTS activity steadily increases with increasing the GHSV. Finally, a remarkably high C 5+ selectivity (93%) and a neg- ligible amount of methane formation (1%) were also obtained at a GHSV of 1900 h 1 in the PSR. Ó 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction The Fischer–Tropsch synthesis (FTS) has received an over increasing scientific and industrial interest during the last decades due to the decrease of proved reserves of crude oil and also to the more stringent environmental legislations dealing with the sulfur and aromatic content in a diesel fuel. The FTS is a key technology in the more global Gas-To-Liquids (GTLs) process which allows the transformation of synthesis gas (2H 2 + CO), issued from natural gas reforming into liquid hydrocarbons following by a hydrocrack- ing of the heavy fraction into useful compounds such as naphtha, diesel, lubricants and others [1–6]. The FTS is considered as a poly- merization-like reaction based on sequential –CH 2 – additions. It is expected that catalyst supports with large pores will improve the mass transfer which significantly reduces the light product forma- tion. Since FTS is a highly exothermic reaction, the removal of reac- tion heat at high CO conversion is also a major problem in order to reduce as much as possible the local hot spot formation within the catalyst bed. Three types of reactors are commercially developed for the FTS process: the fluidized-bed, the slurry bubble column and the tubu- lar fixed bed reactor. About 90% of the FT products in South Africa 1385-8947/$ - see front matter Ó 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2013.02.066 ⇑ Corresponding authors. Tel.: +33 368852633. E-mail addresses: edouardd@unistra.fr (D. Edouard), cuong.pham-huu@unis- tra.fr (C. Pham-Huu). Chemical Engineering Journal 222 (2013) 265–273 Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Chemical Engineering Journal journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/cej