Fischer Tropsch synthesis product analysis

Donnelly, T.J., Yates, I.C., Satterfield, C.N. 1988. Analysis and prediction of product distributions of the Fischer-Tropsch synthesis. Energy Fuels 2 734. 

In this work, a detailed kinetic model for the Fischer-Tropsch synthesis (FTS) has been developed. Based on the analysis of the literature data concerning the FT reaction mechanism and on the results we obtained from chemical enrichment experiments, we have first defined a detailed FT mechanism for a cobalt-based catalyst, explaining the synthesis of each product through the evolution of adsorbed reaction intermediates. Moreover, appropriate rate laws have been attributed to each reaction step and the resulting kinetic scheme fitted to a comprehensive set of FT data describing the effect of process conditions on catalyst activity and selectivity in the range of process conditions typical of industrial operations. 

With Thompson and Irsa the study of the Fischer Tropsch synthesis using deuterium gas,(89,90) with Lewis Friedman on reduction of acetone,(91,92) with G. C. Bond, the reaction of propylene(93) and cyclopropane(94) with deuterium. Using the ethylene-deuterium reaction as an example,(98) the mass spectroscopic approach permitted analysis of each of the five ethylenes and seven ethanes at the same time and showed, among other interesting data, that the first product of the reaction between deuterium and ethylene was an ethane containing no deuterium. 

The compositional modulation technique has been applied to the Fischer-Tropsch synthesis (FTS) reaction [2-5], It was found that the cyclic feeding of CO/H2 had an influence on the selectivity of the FTS products. Among the conclusions was that for an iron catalyst the selectivity for methane increased under periodic operation compared to the steady state operation [5], In the study [5] it was found that the propane/propene ratio increased under periodic operation and the largest changes were with periods between one and ten minutes. Due to the limitations of the anal5dical technique utilized, they could not separate ethane and ethene so that the selectivity basis was for the C3 hydrocarbons. In this study the analytical procedure permitted analysis of products only to the Cg-compoimds. 

Fischer-Tropsch synthesis (FTS), directly converting a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen (syngas) into sulfur-free hydrocarbons, has attracted much attention from academic and industrial community. However, the development of FTS mainly depends on experience, resulting in the inefficient development of catalysts and industrialization design. Recently, a new analysis method, mesoscale analysis, has attracted more attention due to researching on between different scales or crossing several scales, which would contribute to efficient R D process of FTS. This chapter will summarize the multiscale effects on FTS products distribution such as ASF distribution, kinetic model. 

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