Research progress of deactivation mechanism and regeneration of Co-based catalysts for Fischer-Tropsch synthesis

In this paper, the recent advances on the study of the Co-based catalysts for Fischer-Tropsch synthesis, i. e., the deactivation mechanism, regeneration method of catalyst and how to prolong the catalyst life, are reviewed. The main causes of catalyst deactivation in Co-based FTS are poisoning, sintering of Co, carbon deposition, re-oxidation, metal-support solid state reactions, surface reconstruction, surface blockage and attrition. Carbon deposition and sintering of Co are the main reasons of Co-based catalyst deactivation, the key to prolong the life of Co-based catalysts for FT synthesis is to improve the resistance to the sintering of Co and coke deposition. The resistance to the sintering of Co could be improved by enhancing the interaction between the active metal Co and the support, controlling the Co metal particle size distribution and adopting coated or confined method. The carbon deposition can be inhibited by adding promoters, adjusting the experimental conditions (e.g. H2 /CO, GHSV). The catalyst could be regenerated by hydrogen treatment, de-wax, oxidation and reduction, de-wax, oxidation, solution treatment and reduction, in order to reactivate catalyst efficiently, the selection of optimal regeneration method should be combined with the main reason of catalyst deactivation. In the future, it is the key to improve the stability of catalyst and solve the industrial scale-up research of catalyst regeneration technology. © 2021, Chemical Industry Press Co., Ltd.. All rights reserved.