Novel Attrition-Resistant Fischer Tropsch Catalyst

Technical Report · Fri May 01 04:00:00 EDT 2009

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/952170· OSTI ID:952170

There is a strong national interest in the Fischer-Tropsch synthesis process because it offers the possibility of making liquid hydrocarbon fuels from reformed natural gas or coal and biomass gasification products. This project explored a new approach that had been developed to produce active, attrition-resistant Fischer-Tropsch catalysts that are based on glass-ceramic materials and technology. This novel approach represented a promising solution to the problem of reducing or eliminating catalyst attrition and maximizing catalytic activity, thus reducing costs. The technical objective of the Phase I work was to demonstrate that glass-ceramic based catalytic materials for Fischer-Tropsch synthesis have resistance to catalytic deactivation and reduction of particle size superior to traditional supported Fischer-Tropsch catalyst materials. Additionally, these novel glass-ceramic-based materials were expected to exhibit catalytic activity similar to the traditional materials. If successfully developed, the attrition-resistant Fischer-Tropsch catalyst materials would be expected to result in significant technical, economic, and social benefits for both producers and public consumers of Fischer-Tropsch products such as liquid fuels from coal or biomass gasification. This program demonstrated the anticipated high attrition resistance of the glass-ceramic materials. However, the observed catalytic activity of the materials was not sufficient to justify further development at this time. Additional testing documented that a lack of pore volume in the glass-ceramic materials limited the amount of surface area available for catalysis and consequently limited catalytic activity. However, previous work on glass-ceramic catalysts to promote other reactions demonstrated that commercial levels of activity can be achieved, at least for those reactions. Therefore, we recommend that glass-ceramic materials be considered again as potential Fischer-Tropsch catalysts if it can be demonstrated that materials with adequate pore volume can be produced. During the attrition resistance tests, it was learned that the glass-ceramic materials are very abrasive. Attention should be paid in any further developmental efforts to the potential for these hard, abrasive materials to damage reactors.

• Research Organization: RBR@Vision 28 Lake Ridge Club Dr. Burr Ridge, IL 60527
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Energy Research (ER)
• DOE Contract Number: FG02-08ER86358
• OSTI ID: 952170
• Report Number(s): DOE/ER/86358-Final
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT
03 NATURAL GAS
09 BIOMASS FUELS
10 SYNTHETIC FUELS
ABRASIVES
Attrition Resistance
BIOMASS
CATALYSIS
CATALYSTS
COAL
Catalysts
DEACTIVATION
FISCHER-TROPSCH SYNTHESIS
Fischer-Tropsch
GASIFICATION
HYDROCARBONS
LIQUID FUELS
NATURAL GAS
PARTICLE SIZE
SURFACE AREA
Synthetic Fuels from Coal
TESTING