Gas to Liquid has recently become of great interest. In this technology slurry bubble column reactors are favored for many reasons. Separation of liquid wax from the slurry is still a major problem that may be done by internal or external filtration. A system of sintered metal candle filters are designed and operated to collect experimental data of internal filtration. Data for 4 and 8 micron filter elements with different pressure differences and kinematic viscosity were collected. Data analysis revealed that these data could be correlated as a simple function of time, pressure drop and kinematic viscosity. This new and efficient correlation shows excellent ability to reproduce original data at moderate filtration conditions, but it is less precious in severe conditions. It was understood that main reason for this behavior is different filtrate flux regimes through filter media pores, led to inability of a single correlation to fit both regimes properly.
Zhou PZ, Srivastava RD, Status review of Fischer-Tropsch slurry reactor catalyst/wax separation techniques, Report prepared by Burns and Roe Services Corporation in 1991 for U.S. Department of Energy, Pittsburg Energy Technology Center.
Behkish A, Hydrodynamic and mass transfer parameters in largescale slurry bubble column reactors, Ph. D. Dissertation. University of Pittsburgh (2004).