Effect of Active Component Contents to Catalytic Performance on Fe-Cu-K/ZSM5 Fischer-Tropsch Catalyst

Abstract

Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis (FTS) on Fe-Cu-K/ZSM5 catalysts prepared by varying the amount of active components for a given amount of ZSM5 has been investigated to elucidate the effects of iron concentration. The catalysts were prepared by conventional wet impregnation method using ZSM5 and subsequently calcined at 500 degrees C for 5 h. The different catalytic performance is verified by the variation of microporosity such as surface area and pore size distribution of Fe-Cu-K/ZSM5, acidity, reducibility of active phases and the presence of various crystalline phases like alpha-Fe2O3, metallic iron and iron carbide. The characterization results are analyzed along with catalytic performance to arrive at optimum amount of active components and to obtain maximum selectivity of FTS products with high conversion of CO during FTS reaction.