KCl Promoted Cobalt-iron Nanocatalysts Supported on Silica: Catalytic Performance and Characterization in Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis

The SiO2 supported cobalt-iron nano catalysts were prepared by the sol-gel method. This research investigated the effects of (Co/Fe) wt%, different Co/Fe ratios at different temperatures and loading of KCl wt% for Fisher-Tropsch synthesis (FTS). The results showed that the catalyst containing 50 wt% (Co/Fe)/SiO2 (Co/Fe ratio is 70/30) promoted with 0.6 wt% KCl is an optimal nano catalyst for conversion CO + H2 to a range of hydrocarbons especially light olefins. The results also indicated that optimal operating conditions for optimal nano catalyst are 250 °C, and H2/CO molar ratio 2/1 under 1 bar of pressure. Characterization of catalyst precursors and calcined catalysts were performed by different methods such as: powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), N2 physisorption and thermal analysis methods such as thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC).