2168a.     MANES, M.  Distribution of Liquid and Solid Fischer-Tropsch Hydrocarbons by Carbon Number.  Jour. Am. Chem. Soc., vol. 74, 1952, pp. 3,148-3,151.

        Equation has been derived for calculating the distribution by C number of Fischer-Tropsch hydrocarbons, based on the assumptions that chain growth in the synthesis proceeds by stepwise addition of single C atoms, and that the probability of growth, a, of a given hydrocarbon chain is independent of the C number >C₃, although it may vary with experimental conditions.  The equation relates the distribution of the liquid and solid product to a.  Its applicability to relatively crude fractionation data (gasoline, Diesel oil and wax) from a wide variety of sources indicates that the approximate constancy of a, previously observed for liquid hydrocarbons, extends tow axes, and that a is a convenient parameter for characterizing the product distribution.  The eventual termination of chain growth is a necessary consequence of the equation so that selective cracking of waxes need not be postulated.