La-ZrO₂ and Ru-ZrO₂ Promoted Co/SiO₂ Catalysts for Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis

Abstract

The performance of ZrO2-La promoted silica supported cobalt catalyst (100Co/15ZrO2/ 100Aerosil/0.66La) was compared to the ZrO2-Ru promoted one, 100Co/15ZrO2/100Aerosil/0.66Ru, in Fischer-Tropsch synthesis (FTS). These catalysts were prepared by co-precipitation and incipient wetness impregnation methods. The characterization by XRD confirmed the cobalt phase of Co3O4 in both catalysts. For their catalytic activity on FTS reaction, the results preliminarily showed the higher methane fraction (60-80%) and lower C2-C4(10-20%) and C5+(10-20%) fractions in ZrO2-La promoted catalyst compared to the fractions of methane (20-40%), C2-C4(20-50%), and C5+(10-60%) from the ZrO2-Ru promoted catalyst. During reaction, the maximum n-paraffin selectivity of 40% was at C3and the hydrocarbon chain was up to C6for the ZrO2-La promoted catalyst. For the ZrO2-Ru promoted catalyst, the result showed the maximum n-paraffin of C3at 30 min of reaction time. When the reaction time increased, the maximum n-paraffin selectivity shifted toward higher C number but levelled off (15%) and the hydrocarbon chain was up to C16.