Due to the concurrence of carbonylation of methanol and hydrogenolysis of methyl formate(MeF)in a slurry reactor

methanol synthesis via MeF has the following advantages:low reaction temperature

high per pass conversion

good heat transfer and direct utilization of crude methanol product as fuel

thus it is a more efficient and more economic methanol production process than the conventional methanol process.In this presentation

a model of the low temperature methanol systhesis(LTMS)via MeF in a bubble column slurry reactor(BCSR)is presented.The model assumes:the gas phase being in plug flow and unmixed slurry phase

catalyst concentration distribution is described by the sedimentation-dispersion model.Liu’s non- linear reaction kinetic expression for LTMS over G-89 catalyst is used in the present model.The effect of various operating variants which include temperature

pressure

superficial gas velocity and catalyst concentration on the reactor productivity are studied.Computation results show that the higher the reaction temperature

the higher the equilibrium conversion and productivity of methanol.Increasing the gas superficial velocity leads to a gradual drop in syngas conversion

while STY goes through a maximum.Under slurry operation condition

high catalyst concentration increases the viscosity of slurry which tends to form large bubbles and

in return

also decreases gas-liquid interfacial area and the residence time of gaseous components in reactor

which affects the efficiency of reactor.