An investigation of the kinetics and mechanism of Fischer–Tropsch synthesis on Fe–Co–Mn supported catalyst

Abstract

The kinetic of the Fischer–Tropsch synthesis over a Fe–Co–Mn catalyst was investigated in a fixed bed micro reactor. Experimental conditions were varied as follow: reaction pressure 1–10bar, H2/CO feed ratio of 1–3 and space velocity of 4500h−1 at the temperature range of 290–320°C. 18 models according to the Langmuir–Hinshelwood–Hougen–Watson (LHHW) type rate equation were derived on the basis of detailed set of possible reaction mechanisms, and the reaction rate of this study is fitted fairly well by one kinetic expression based on LHHW mechanism. The kinetic parameters were estimated with non-linear regression method and the activation energy was 82.520kJ/mol for optimal kinetic model. The catalyst characterization was carried out using different methods including powder X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) surface area measurements.