Low acidity ZSM-5 supported iron catalysts for Fischer-Tropsch synthesis

Murat Baranak*, Betül Gürünlü, Alper Sarioǧlan, Özlem Ataç, Hüsnü Atakül

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

25 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Low acidity ZSM-5-supported iron catalysts were synthesized for use in Fischer-Tropsch conversion. Low acidity ZSM-5 was particularly chosen for its lower activity in respect to zeolite-Acid catalyzed reactions (i.e. hydrocracking) which might lead to the lower selectivity for the light hydrocarbon and high selectivity for gasoline range components and for its high stability. Selective surface dealumination was also applied to zeolite and the resulting zeolite was used as a support for the catalyst in order to enhance its selectivity for gasoline. Zeolite-supported catalysts were synthesized by using incipient wetness impregnation method and hybrid catalyst was prepared by physical admixing of ZSM-5 and base iron. The performances of catalysts prepared by two different methods were compared with respect to activity, selectivity and hydrocarbon yields. The catalytic activities of the catalysts were found to be considerably affected by the catalyst preparation method, percentage of iron in the catalyst and the reaction temperature. All catalysts displayed a CO conversion higher than 40% at 553 K. The selectivity toward C5-C11 hydrocarbons of catalyst prepared by impregnation method was determined to be 50-74%. The selectivity of the hybrid catalyst toward the same fraction was about 45%. No wax was detected in the products during the FT process using zeolite-supported iron catalysts. About 2 wt.% wax was measured in the FT products obtained by hybrid catalyst under similar conditions. Catalyst prepared with dealuminated zeolite displayed higher gasoline range hydrocarbon selectivity in comparison with catalysts having same iron content. Results of a 260 h time-on-stream test, carried out for one of the supported iron catalysts with 8 wt.% Fe, indicated that the catalyst was stable without any activity loss.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)57-64
Number of pages8
JournalCatalysis Today
Volume207
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 30 May 2013
Externally publishedYes

Funding

This work was financially supported by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK) through the project TÜBİTAK 1007-108G043 “Liquid Fuel Production from Coal and Biomass Blends.”

FundersFunder number
Coal and Biomass Blends
TÜBİTAK1007-108G043
Türkiye Bilimsel ve Teknolojik Araştirma Kurumu

    Keywords

    • Catalytic activity
    • Dealumination
    • Fischer-Tropsch
    • Iron catalysts
    • ZSM-5

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