Catalytic investigation for Fischer: Tropsch synthesis from bio-mass derived syngas

Abstract Hydrocarbon synthesis from biomass-derived syngas (bio-syngas) has been investigated as a potential way to use biomass. The Fischer–Tropsch reaction has been carried out using CO/CO 2 /H 2 /Ar (11/32/52/5 vol.%) mixture as a model for bio-syngas on co-precipitated Fe/Cu/K, Fe/Cu/Si/K and Fe/Cu/Al/K catalysts in a fixed bed reactor. The reaction with the model bio-syngas showed that only CO was converted to hydrocarbons while, in the reaction with a balanced (i.e. H 2 -enriched) feed gas, CO 2 was converted to hydrocarbons as well as CO. In the optimization of the catalyst composition that employed bio-syngas, alumina as a structural promoter gave much higher activity for hydrocarbon production than silica. K addition promoted the catalytic activity and the selectivities toward olefins and long-chain hydrocarbons, but too high K promotion caused the gradual deactivation of the catalysts. Some performances of the catalysts that depended on the syngas composition are also presented.