Abstract. The productivity of Fischer-Tropsch reactors is determined by the efficiency of heat and mass transfer processes inside the catalyst pellets. To reduce the diffusion resistance, the pellet base is made porous. The porous structure of the granules causes a discrete arrangement of cobalt metallic microparticles whose size can reach tens of microns. The distance between these active centres significantly exceeds their characteristic size and the homogeneous catalyst model is incorrect. A mathematical model of heat and mass transfer processes inside a porous spherical pellet with localised active centres is proposed. The heat of the exothermic synthesis reaction is removed from the surface of the granule to the synthesis gas stream washing the catalyst pellet by heat transfer. The components of the synthesis gas enter the granule surface as a result of mass transfer. On the basis of the self-consistent field method, the values of the temperature and concentration of the synthesis gas components at the active centres were determined. It is shown that there is a critical temperature of the synthesis gas washing the granule, exceeding critical temperature leads to a substantial overheating of the active centres. In this case, the surface of the catalyst pellet is superheated slightly. The principal difference between the homogeneous and heterogeneous models in catalytic reactions is discussed.