Mesoporous Carbon-supported Iron Catalyst for Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis

Abstract

Mesoporous carbon materials have been employed as supports of iron–carbon complex catalysts for slurry phase Fischer-Tropsch (FT) synthesis. The mesoporous carbon-supported iron catalysts were prepared through the co-precipitation from aqueous solutions of ferrous and copper sulfates in the presence of mesoporous carbon materials synthesized through the soft-template and hard-template methods. The iron catalyst supported by the soft-templated mesoporous carbon exhibited a sharp product distribution at C5-C9 fractions (62 % in hydrocarbons) in FT synthesis at 260 °C under 2 MPa-G. On the other hand, the catalyst supported by the hard-templated mesoporous carbon having far larger mesopore openings showed a high selectivity to higher hydrocarbons (69 % of C10+ in hydrocarbons) with a high hydrocarbon productivity (0.74 g/g-Fe h). This catalyst also showed high catalytic activity and long lifetime up to 30 h even at lower reaction pressure of 1 MPa-G. The very large inner space of mesopores that are not easily blocked through the wax formation would be responsible for such high catalytic activity.