The present study was undertaken to understand the fundamentals of recycling the tail gas during the FischerTropsch Synthesis with an iron-based catalyst with particular emphasis on the importance of the usage ratio. The usage ratio was ca. 1.4 for the catalyst studied at our reaction conditions (240°C, 20 bar, 5000 mL/ (g cat ‚h)). The study shows the H 2 /CO ratio in the recycle gas fed to the reactor depends on both the H 2 /CO ratio in the fresh feed and the usage ratio of the catalyst. For an H 2 /CO in the fresh feed higher than the 1.4, the H 2 /CO ratio in the reactor increases with the increasing recycle ratio whereas the converse is true for H 2 /CO ratios lower than 1.4. For negligible change in the Fischer-Tropsch selectivity during external recycle, the H 2 /CO ratio in the fresh feed should match the usage ratio of the catalyst. The presence CO 2 in this recycled gas did not change the overall CO 2 selectivity; hence, CO 2 is regarded as an inert at these conditions.
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