Fischer-Tropsch Liquids from Biorenewable Feedstocks

8 Fischer-Tropsch Liquids from Biorenewable Feedstocks 

The FTS was established in 1923 by German scientists Franz Fischer and Hans Tropsch. The main aim of FTS is the synthesis of long-chain hydrocarbons from CO and Hj gas mixture. The FTS is described by the set of equations (Schulz, 1999)  

Synthetic FT diesel fuels can have excellent autoignition characteristics. The FT diesel is composed of only straight-chain hydrocarbons and has no aromatics or sulfur. Reaction parameters are temperature, pressure and H/CO ratio. FT product composition is strongly influenced by catalyst composition the yield of paraffins is higher with cobalt catalytic ran and the yield of olefins and oxygenates is higher with ironcatalytic ran. 

Catalysts and reactors have been extensively investigated for liquid phase Fischer-Tropsch synthesis (Davis, 2002). The synthetic Fischer-Tropsch diesel fuel can provide benefits in terms of both PM and NO emissions (May, 2003). Properties of FT and No. 2 diesel fuels are given in Table 3.9. 

FT is most compatible with existing distribution for conventional diesel and only minimal adjustments are required to obtain optimal performance from existing diesel engines. Physical properties of FT are very similar to No. 2 diesel fuel, and its chemical properties are superior in that the FT process yields middle distillates that, if correctly processed (as through a cobalt-based catalyst), contain no aromatics or sulfur compounds. 

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