TITLE: Novel Fischer-Tropsch Slurry Catalysts and Process Concepts for Selective Transportation Fuel Production: Final Report.

AUTHOR: H. P. Withers;   K. F. Eliezer;   J. W. Mitchell.

INST.  AUTHOR: Air Products and Chemicals, Inc., Allentown, PA.

SPONSOR: Department of Energy, Washington, DC.

LANGUAGE: English

PUB.  TYPE: Technical Report

PUB.  COUNTRY: United States

SOURCE: Department of Energy [DE],  Dec 87,  132p.

NTIS ORDER NO.: DE88004678/INW  

ABSTRACT:

The preparation, characterization and performance of cobalt and ruthenium carbonyl cluster-based catalysts for use in slurry-phase Fischer-Tropsch (FT) technology was investigated. The use of metal carbonyls as active metal precursor allows for the possible control of metal particle size on the support surface and thus offers the potential for better control of activity and selectivity of the FT reaction. Accomplishments included reproducible catalyst preparation, improvements in activity by use of a silica support, understanding diffeences between nitrate and carbonyl precursors, and good activity maintenance in the slurry reactor. A CO2(CO)8Zr(OPr)4SiO2 catalyst (3.5% CO, 6.6% Zr) was developed as the most active system in the slurry reactor and also gave the best liquid fuel selectivity. Silica support provided the highest catalyst activities. This catalyst was successfully tested in an extended slurry-phase run that achieved 6 months on stream with a 10% loss in activity. Ru catalysts showed the highest activity in the fixed-bed reactor but deactivated rapidly in the slurry reactor. In the analysis of the kinetic data, catalyst deactivation was assumed to proceed linearly between baseline experiments at fixed temperature. Causes of the deactivation are not fully understood. 27 refs., 37 figs., 20 tabs. (ERA citation 13:030169)

REPORT  NUMBER: DOE/PC/70030-T9

CONTRACT  NUMBER: AC22-84PC70030