The bulk of the products that were synthesized from Fischer–Tropsch synthesis (FTS) is a wide range (C₁–C₇₀₊) of hydrocarbons, primarily straight-chained paraffins. Additional hydrocarbon products, which can also be a majority, are linear olefins, specifically: 1-olefin, trans-2-olefin, and cis-2-olefin. Minor hydrocarbon products can include isomerized hydrocarbons, predominantly methyl-branched paraffin, cyclic hydrocarbons mainly derived from high-temperature FTS and internal olefins. Combined, these products provide 80–95% of the total products (excluding CO₂) generated from syngas. A vast number of different oxygenated species, such as aldehydes, ketones, acids, and alcohols, are also embedded in this product range. These materials can be used to probe the FTS mechanism or to produce alternative chemicals. The purpose of this article is to compare the product selectivity over several FTS catalysts. Discussions center on typical product selectivity of commonly used catalysts, as well as some uncommon formulations that display selectivity anomalies. Reaction tests were conducted while using an isothermal continuously stirred tank reactor. Carbon mole percentages of CO that are converted to specific materials for Co, Fe, and Ru catalysts vary, but they depend on support type (especially with cobalt and ruthenium) and promoters (especially with iron). All three active metals produced linear alcohols as the major oxygenated product. In addition, only iron produced significant selectivities to acids, aldehydes, and ketones. Iron catalysts consistently produced the most isomerized products of the catalysts that were tested. Not only does product selectivity provide a fingerprint of the catalyst formulation, but it also points to a viable proposed mechanistic route.

Advanced oxidation processes, specifically catalytic wet air oxidation (CWAO), are considered as useful and robust methods for the treatment of refractory organic compounds such as phenol in wastewater. This paper reviews reaction mechanisms, kinetics and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling of CWAO of phenol. Different reaction mechanisms have been proposed by various researchers to account for possible intermediates during phenol oxidation. These mechanisms can be either direct or indirect; with the indirect path resulting in the formation of intermediates, while with the direct mechanism, no intermediates are formed, the reaction proceeds straight to carbon dioxide and water. Acetic acid is considered as the most stable intermediate of phenol oxidation. Power law and Langmuir–Hinshelwood models were used to account for the adsorption/desorption of the reactants on the surface of the catalyst. The reviewed studies show that phenol conversion increases with increased temperature, pressure, gas velocity and decreases with increasing liquid space velocity. The formation of hot spots next to the walls of the reactor leads to safety issues and may cause catalyst deactivation and reactor thermal run away. This prompted a review of liquid mal-distribution and the formation of hot spots inside the reactor using the CFD modeling technique. In most cases, liquid channeling was observed, resulting in the formation of hot spots and catalyst deactivation.