The origin of Sasol’s Synthol reactor
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This post was last edited by jordan569 on 2013-1-6 21:42. There have been quite a few debates on the forum these past two days, but as long as they are kept in check, it’s not a bad thing. This post is about something light-hearted. When introducing himself, Sasol often mentions his Synthol reactor, as well as the later Advanced Synthol reactor. These two names refer to Sasol’s circulating fluidized bed and fixed fluidized bed reactors, respectively. Synthol was not originally owned by Sasol; the patented brand Synthol was created by Kellogg for its circulating fluidized bed reactors. In the 1950s, when Sasol introduced Kellogg’s Synthol patent, Kellogg told Sasol outright that they could not guarantee the operation of large-scale plants using this technology, but Sasol still decided to go ahead with using Kellogg’s process. Two Synthol reactors were built first, but problems arose: the reactors kept catching fire, almost once a month. Sasol became furious and began to sue Kellogg. To avoid litigation, Kellogg reached an agreement with Sasol to transfer ownership of the Synthol trademark to Sasol and to assist Sasol in further improving the design of the reactor. From then on, whenever the word Synthol appeared, there was no longer any mention of Kellogg. . Note $ # , $ $
When this Syntrol circulating fluidized bed reactor is in operation, hundreds of tons of molten iron catalyst flow inside it, resulting in very loud noise that can be heard even several kilometers away. The reactor also sways from side to side during operation; standing nearby, one might worry that it could collapse at any moment, and if it isn’t secured properly, that would be a problem. In the early days, when this Syntrol reactor was in operation, fighting fires was a common task for Sasol employees; they would rush to the site as soon as they heard signs of a fire, without needing any notification. Initially, several reactors were lost and many people died as a result. Mainly, materials such as internal joint valves and elbows are not wear-resistant, resulting in easy air leakage. Sasol produced the first barrel of oil using this reactor quite quickly; I believe it was in the early 1950s (Sasol began producing oil from coal in the 1950s). However, it took Sasol over a decade to fully develop and master this fluidized-bed reactor. By the early 1990s, Sasol developed the SAS fixed-bed fluidized-bed reactor based on the operation of the Syntrol reactor. Thanks to the experiences and lessons gained earlier, although the SAS reactor encountered some problems at first, they were resolved quickly, and it was eventually designed to be over 10 meters in length (with smaller-scale prototypes developed in between). We can still learn a lot from Sasol’s development process; leapfrog development can only be achieved on a certain foundation.
:o:LKellogg:'(:'(
This post was last edited by *aojungnft on 2010-4-2 03:32. The advantages we have now compared to that time are quite significant; there are at least two points. First, there has been great progress in our understanding of Fischer-Tropsch synthesis as well as in its kinetics. Back in those days, it was like walking along a cliff with one’s eyes covered – we only had a rough idea and could not be sure what would happen when scaling up the process; we could only proceed by trial and error； Second, there was rapid progress in the application of computers and automatic control systems, which greatly facilitated engineering simulations as well as the control of entire factory systems; back then, the computer memory used for such simulations was only 40k. Upstairs, why are you crying when Kellogg is mentioned?