Kinetic model discrimination for olefin and alcohol formation in Fischer-Tropsch synthesis

IFP Energies nouvelles - Lyon; Solaize; On-site; EUR 12,000 - 14,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Paid internship

Job summary

IFP Energies nouvelles - Lyon offers a six-month internship focused on kinetic model discrimination for olefin and oxygenate formation in Fischer–Tropsch synthesis. You will contribute at IFPEN Lyon on developing a reactor model to describe how operating conditions influence olefin and oxygenate distributions in the dataset.

The role includes a literature review, implementing corresponding kinetics schemes, parameter estimation, and a comparative study to propose an innovative modeling approach

Qualifications

• Chemical engineering background with interest in kinetic and mass/heat transfer modeling.
• Experience or familiarity with Fortran or similar programming language.
• Willingness to work in Lyon, France for 6-month internship.

Responsibilities

• Conduct literature review to identify mechanisms of olefins and oxygenates formation and relevant physical phenomena.
• Implement kinetic schemes and physical laws into a pre-existing reactor model, estimating parameters.
• Perform a comparative study of model predictions and propose an innovative modeling approach to fit the data.

Skills

Fortran

Kinetic modeling

Mass/heat transfer

Education

Chemical Engineering

Job description

Kinetic model discrimination for olefin and alcohol formation in Fischer-Tropsch synthesis

Fischer-Tropsch synthesis (FTS) is competitive route for sustainable fuel production, especially when used in the e-fuel or biofuel chain. Optimization of operating conditions is yet crucial to minimize the cost of the whole process. Advanced reactor models, able to predict every rate of FTS products production in a wide range of conditions, have therefore been developed to be further used in optimization schemes. However, despite numerous kinetic studies, the prediction of olefins and oxygenate products distribution remains a challenge and deviations from experiments are still observed.

Description

Current FTS kinetic models, generally based on CO insertion mechanism or enol mechanism, are able to accuratly predict CO conversion rates and main products selectivities such as paraffins and methane selectivities. They, however, hardly describe the dependency of olefins and oxygenates on operating conditions. Several hypothesis have been proposed in the literature to explain this deviation, for example olefins reincorporation in the chain propagation or competitive adsorption of side products.

The main goal of this internship is to develop a reactor model able to describe the effect of operating conditions on olefins and oxygenate products distribution. For this task, a pilote-scale experimental dataset will be used, and different kinetic mechanisms and/or physical phenomena will be evaluated based on those data.

The work will be divided into the 3 following tasks:

• Conduct a literature review to select different mechanisms of olefins and oxygenates formation and identify physical phenomena which could affect their rate of production
• Implement corresponding kinetics schemes and physical laws into a pre-existing reactor model, and estimate associated parameters
• Perform a comparative study of the models ability to predict olefins and oxygenates distributions, and propose an innovative combination to accurately describe the dataset

Required profile

Chemical engineering training, interested in kinetic and mass/heat transfer modeling, experience in fortran or similar language programming

Additional information

- Duration of the internship : 6 months
- Workplace : IFPEN Lyon, Rond-point de l'échangeur de Solaize, 69360 Solaize
- Transport : public transportation / personal vehicle
- Paid internship 1150€/month (gross)