Poisoning of a Silica-Supported Cobalt Catalyst due to Presence of Sulfur Impurities in Syngas during Fischer–Tropsch Synthesis: Effects of Chelating Agent

Journal Article · Wed Apr 09 00:00:00 EDT 2014 · Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1021/ie500243h· OSTI ID:1159799

Bambal, Ashish S.; Guggilla, Vidya S.; Kugler, Edwin L.; Gardner, Todd H.; Dadyburjor, Dady B.

The effects of sulfur impurities on the performance of cobalt-based Fischer–Tropsch catalysts are evaluated under industrially relevant operating conditions of temperature, pressure, and impurity levels. Chelating agents (CAs) were used to modify the SiO₂ support, and the performances of the CA-modified catalysts are compared with conventional Co/SiO₂ catalysts. For both the Co/SiO₂ and CA-modified catalysts, the presence of sulfur in the inlet syngas results in a notable drop in the CO conversion, an undesired shift in the hydrocarbon selectivity toward short-chain hydrocarbons, more olefins in the products, and lower product yields. In the post-poisoning stage, i.e., after termination of sulfur introduction in the inlet syngas, the CA-modified catalysts recover activity and selectivity (to some extent at least), whereas such trends are not observed for the base-case, i.e., unmodified Co/SiO₂ catalyst. Finally, the improved performance of the CA-modified catalysts in the presence of sulfur is attributed to higher densities of active sites.

• Research Organization: National Energy Technology Lab. (NETL), Pittsburgh, PA, and Morgantown, WV (United States). In-house Research; National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), Pittsburgh, PA, Morgantown, WV (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Fossil Energy (FE)
• OSTI ID: 1159799
• Report Number(s): NETL-PUB-904
• Journal Information: Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research, Vol. 53, Issue 14; ISSN 0888-5885
• Publisher: American Chemical Society (ACS)
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English