Effects of Impregnation Solvents on Catalytic Performance of Co-Ru-ZrO₂/γ-Al₂O₃ Catalyst for Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis

Abstract

Used ZrO₂ modified γ-Al₂O₃ as support, Co-Ru catalysts were prepared by incipient impregnation method. The effects of impregnation solvents on the performances of catalysts were examined. The catalyst was prepared with ethanol solution and high Co dispersion was obtained, exhibiting highest activity of CO hydrogenation, very low methane selectivity, and high heavy hydrocarbon C₅ ⁺ selectivity. The catalysts were prepared with aqueous solution and methanol solution, and the reaction behaviors were similar. The solvent isopropanol caused the lowest catalytic activity and highest methane selectivity. Increasing the reaction temperature enhanced the CO hydrogenation rate, and the CO conversion slightly increased the CO₂ selectivity and favored the formation methane and light hydrocarbons, while the chain growth probability decreased. For the catalyst prepared with ethanol, the CO conversion, the CH₄ selectivity, and the C₅ ⁺ selectivity were 94.16%, 5.65%, and 88.2%, respectively, and the chain growth probability was 0.87 at 493 K, 1.5 MPa, 800 h⁻¹, and n(H₂):n(CO) = 2.0 in feed.

Keywords:

• Co-Ru/γ-Al₂O₃
• Fischer-Tropsch synthesis
• impregnation solvent
• ZrO₂ modification

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

We gratefully acknowledge the financial support by the Ph.D. Foundation of the National Research Council (No. 20050251006).