Investigations into enhanced wax production with combustion synthesized Fischer-Tropsch catalysts

Ail, Snehesh Shivananda and Dasappa, S (2016) Investigations into enhanced wax production with combustion synthesized Fischer-Tropsch catalysts. In: ENERGY CONVERSION AND MANAGEMENT, 116 . pp. 80-90.

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Abstract

Combustion synthesized (CS) cobalt catalysts deposited over two supports, alumina and silica doped alumina (SDA), were characterized and tested for its Fischer-Tropsch (FT) activity. The properties of CS catalysts were compared to catalysts synthesized by conventional impregnation method (IWI). The CS catalysts resulted in 40-70% increase in the yield of C6+ hydrocarbons compared to MI catalysts. The FT activity for CS catalysts showed formation of long chain hydrocarbon waxes (C24+) compared to the formation of middle distillates (C-10-C-20) for IWI synthesized catalysts, indicating higher hydrocarbon chain growth probability for CS catalysts. This is ascribed to the smaller crystallite sizes, increased degree of cobalt reduction and consequentially, a higher number of active metal sites, exposed over the catalyst surface. Additionally, 12-13% increase in the overall C6+ hydrocarbon yield is realized for SDA-CS catalysts, compared to Al2O3-CS catalysts. The improved performance of CS-SDA catalysts is attributed to 48% increase in cobalt dispersion compared to Al2O3 supported CS catalysts, which is again caused by the decrease in the cobalt -support interaction for SDA supports. The metal support interactions were analyzed using XPS and H-2 TPR-TPD experiments. Combustion method produced catalysts with smaller crystallite size (17-18 nm), higher degree of reduction (similar to 92%) and higher metal dispersion (16.1%) compared to the IWI method. Despite its enhanced properties, the CS catalysts require prominently higher reduction temperatures (similar to 1100-1200 K). The hydrocarbon product analysis for Al2O3 supported catalyst showed higher paraffin wax concentrations compared to SDA supported catalysts, due to the lower surface basicity of Al2O3. This work reveals the impact of the CS catalysts and the nature of support on FT activity and hydrocarbon product spectrum. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Publication:	ENERGY CONVERSION AND MANAGEMENT
Publisher:	PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
Additional Information:	Copy right for this article belongs to the PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD, THE BOULEVARD, LANGFORD LANE, KIDLINGTON, OXFORD OX5 1GB, ENGLAND
Keywords:	Fischer-Tropsch; Higher hydrocarbons; Liquid fuel; Combustion synthesis catalysts; Silica doped alumina; Metal support interaction
Department/Centre:	Division of Mechanical Sciences > Centre for Sustainable Technologies (formerly ASTRA)
Date Deposited:	12 May 2016 05:09
Last Modified:	12 May 2016 05:09
URI:	http://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/53803

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