The Effect of Potasium and Lathanium Promoters on the Performance of Nanosized Iron Catalysts in Fischer- Tropach Synthesis

Fischer-Tropsch synthesis provides an alternative route for the production of clean transportation fuels and high molecular weight hydrocarbons via catalyzed CO hydrogenation. In this paper, three nanocatalysts including iron, copper, potassium, and lanthanium were prepared using a microemulsion method. The composition of the final catalysts, in terms of the atomic ratio of the elements, was selected as 100Fe/4Cu/2K, 100Fe/4Cu/2La, and 100Fe/4Cu/1K/1La. XRD, BET, TEM, and TPR techniques were employed for the investigation of phase, structure, and morphology properties and the reduction in temperature. Fischer-Tropsch synthesis reaction was performed in a fixed bed reactor at a pressure of 18 atm, a temperature of 290 °C, an H2/CO ratio of 1, and a GHSV equal to 3 NL.h-1.gCat-1. The results show that the reaction activities of Fischer-Tropsch synthesis and water-gas shift are higher in the case of using two promoters compared to when only one promoter is employed. Methane selectivity dropped to about 10.8%, while CO conversion increased to around 86.9%, when two promoters were used.