Synthesis and Characterization of Co/C and Fe/C Nanocatalysts for Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis: A Comparative Study Using a Fixed-Bed Reactor

Production of Fischer-Tropsch catalysts is challenging because it involves controlling and optimizing multiple parameters in numerous technical steps. Here, we present C-supported nanometric Fe and Co catalysts synthesized by plasma spraying, a method that contracts catalyst production into a single step, in contrast to traditional multistep catalyst production by precipitation or impregnation. The catalysts were reduced in situ and then tested for Fischer-Tropsch synthesis in a gas-solid fixed-bed reactor at 230 degrees C and 30-bar pressure for 24 h. The performance of plasma-synthesized catalysts was superior at a gas hourly space velocity of 6,000 mL.g(cat)(-1).h(-1), with Fe/C catalysts showing about 30% CO conversion per pass while Co/C catalysts yielded about 20% CO conversion. Identical C-supported Co and Fe catalysts prepared by impregnation or precipitation gave CO conversions of about 7% under similar reaction conditions.