Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis over Fe/Al2O3 catalyst with low Fe loading : effect of reaction temperature

Abstract: The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of the operating temperature on the performance of a Fe/Al2O3 catalyst with low Fe loading during Fischer-Tropsch reaction. The catalyst was prepared by incipient wetness impregnation method and evaluated at 250 – 300 oC. The experimental results show that both selectivity and catalyst activity are strongly affected by the operating temperature. Increasing the temperature leads to increased catalytic activity and shifts the selectivity of products towards lighter hydrocarbons. While a clear dependence of the olefin-to-paraffin ratio (O/P) for C4 and C5 hydrocarbons on the operating temperature was not obtained, the O/P for C2 and C3 hydrocarbons was found to decrease with an increasing temperature