Patent ID: 8222305
Filing Date: 2012-07-17
Classification: C10G

Abstract:
1. A hydrocarbon synthesis process for producing liquid and gaseous products from gaseous reactants, which process includes feeding, at a low level, gaseous reactants into a slurry bed of solid catalyst particles suspended in a suspension liquid; allowing the gaseous reactants to react catalytically as they pass upwardly through the slurry bed, thereby to form liquid and gaseous hydrocarbon products, with the reaction being catalysed by the catalyst particles, and with a product mixture comprising liquid product and catalyst particles being formed; subjecting, in a filtration stage, the product mixture to filtration by passing the liquid product through a filtering medium in a first direction to separate catalyst particles from the liquid product; withdrawing the gaseous products from above the slurry bed; cooling the gaseous products to form a multi-phase product comprising at least a hydrocarbon condensate and a tail-gas; separating the multi-phase product to produce at least a hydrocarbon condensate stream and a tail-gas stream; treating at least a portion of the hydrocarbon condensate stream to remove oxygenated components therefrom, producing a backflush condensate; from time to time interrupting for periods the passage of liquid product through the filtering medium of the filtration stage; and backflushing the filtering medium of the filtration stage by passing the backflush condensate through the filtering medium in a second direction opposite to the first direction, for at least a portion of the periods that the liquid product passage is interrupted.