Kinetic modelling of Fischer-Tropsch product distributions

Starting from the idea of Fischer-Tropsch (FT) synthesis as an ideal polymerisation reaction it is easily realised, that product olefins undergo secondary reactions and thereby modify the product distribution. This generally leads to chain length dependencies of certain olefin reaction possibilities, which are again suited to serve as a characteristic feature for the kind of olefin conversion. By extending an existing model and accounting for olefin readsorption, incorporation, hydrogenation and isomerisation via double bond shift and the chain length dependence of product solubilities, typical deviations from ideal distributions can be simulated and experimentally observed data with cobalt and iron catalysts can be satisfactorily described, suggesting the correctness of the assumptions made. Furthermore, other existing models dealing with the same issue are briefly discussed in this paper. (C)1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.