59.    ANTHEAUME, J.  [Contribution to the Study of the Iron Catalyst in the Synthesis of Hydrocarbons From Carbon Monoxide.]  Thesis, Univ. Lille, I. Special No. 1934, 69 pp; Brennstoff-Chem., vol. 15, 1934, p. 436.

               After a discussion of heterogeneous catalysis and the benzine synthesis of Fischer-Tropsch, a study was made of precipitated Fe-Cu catalysts (4 : 1) and their efficiency.  The effect on the yield of the method of preparation, the space velocity of the synthesis gas, and the composition and regeneration of the catalyst by oxidation were determined.  An increased efficiency was shown by catalysts that had all alkali electrolytically removed.  A reduction in the Cu content by 9/10 resulted in a 5-fold increase in the yield.  Catalysts without a carrier were more efficient than those with one.  Optimal yield:  65 gm. of hydrocarbons per m.³ of raw gas.  Some physical-chemical investigations of the state of the ?Fe during the synthesis were made.  X-ray as well as thermomagnetic analyses, relation between the temperature and magnetic properties, showed the complete absence of metallic Fe.  In every active catalyst the Fe₂O₃ and Fe₃O₄ were present as solid solutions.  By complete exclusion of alkali the solubility of both oxides and the activity of the catalyst were increased.  The extraction of the gas from used catalysts on kieselguhr showed that the quantity of absorbed gases increased with the rise in activity.  In catalysts without kieselguhr, the amount of adsorbed gas increased with increasing age and decreasing efficiency.  By extracting used catalysts salvelike and high-melting paraffins were obtained; they were not alone answerable for the deterioration of the catalyst.  Likewise, synthesis gas carbureted with hexane caused only a slight decrease in the activity.