Fischer-Tropsch synthesis: Studies effect of reduction variables on the performance of Fe-Ni-Co catalyst

The effect of reduction temperature (200-450 degrees C) and various atmospheres on the performance of Fe-Ni-Co catalyst in a fixed bed reactor have been investigated. Catalysts were prepared by co-precipitation procedure and used for CO hydrogenation in Fischer-Tropsch synthesis (FTS). The catalyst which was reduced at 300 degrees C under H-2 atmosphere showed the best catalytic performance for higher CO conversion and low CH4 selectivity. The initial activity depends on the atmosphere used and is in the order of H-2 > CO > H-2: CO = 1. XRD, SEM/EDS, and BET characterization of precursor, calcinated and reduced catalysts showed that while by increasing reduction temperature; the pore volume increases and their pore size decreases. It was observed that the phase composition of catalysts reduced with H-2 is strongly dependent on the pretreatment conditions. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.