Coal fly ash-derived mesoporous SBA-15 as support material for production of liquid hydrocarbon through Fischer-Tropsch route

The supernatant solution of silicate species extracted from coal fly ash (CFA) by NaOH fusion is used under acidic conditions with surfactant pluronic P-123 to prepare the mesoporous silica (SBA-15). Structural properties of prepared SBA-15 are found close to those prepared by pure chemicals. Furthermore, the synthesized mesoporous silica (SBA-15) from CFA is used as support in Fischer-Tropsch synthesis (FTS). The obtained mesoporous material has a surface area of 643 m(2)/g and a pore size of 8.24 nm. Co-Fe bimetallic catalyst containing 15 wt% of cobalt and 5 wt% of iron is prepared by incipient wetness impregnation of cobalt nitrate and iron nitrate salts over CFA-derived SBA-15. These mesoporous support and catalyst are characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), N-2 adsorption-desorption, H-2-temperature-programmed reduction (TPR), NH3-temperature-programmed desorption (TPD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). FTS experiment is showing 65.53% of C5+ selectivity. The results indicate that the nanosubstrate material derived from CFA may be used as support for FTS activity with further improvements.