Novel bimetallic 1%M-Fe/Al2O3-Cr2O3 (2:1) (M = Ru, Au, Pt, Pd) catalysts for Fischer-Tropsch synthesis

Abstract

The main objective of this work was to study the physicochemical and catalytic properties of bimetallic supported catalysts [1%M-Fe/Al2O3-Cr2O3 (2:1) (M = Ru, Au, Pt, Pd)] in Fischer-Tropsch synthesis. Furthermore, the study investigated the effect of noble metal addition to iron-supported catalysts on their physicochemical properties and reactivity. The physicochemical properties of the catalysts were studied using a range of characterization techniques such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), temperature-programmed reduction (TPR-H2), temperature-programmed desorption of ammonia (TPD-NH3) and BET (Brunauer – Emmett - Teller method). The activity tests were performed by Fischer-Tropsch synthesis in a high-pressure fixed-bed reactor using a gas mixture of H2 and CO with a molar ratio of 1:1. The correlation between the physicochemical properties of the investigated catalysts and their catalytic performance in CO hydrogenation was also investigated. The reactivity results showed that the most active system exhibited a high specific surface area, the highest total acidity and was the most reducible catalyst compared to the other catalysts tested. In addition, the AuFe system showed high selectivity towards liquid product formation during CO hydrogenation.

Keywords

• Diesel production
• Hydrogenation of CO
• Syngas
• Iron catalyst
• Bimetallic catalysts
• Binary oxide