In the present study, an effort has been made to investigate the impact of ammonia on a Co/Al2O3 catalyst at ppm level concentrations. The addition of 10, 100, and 1200 ppm (concentration of ammonia with respect to the syngas feed) of ammonia had a significant irreversible deactivation in the activity which increased with increasing ammonia concentration at identical reaction conditions, and it has a self-limiting deactivation of the catalytic activity. The decrease in catalytic activity might be due to the competitive adsorption of ammonia molecules with reactants for cobalt sites. However, the deactivation appears to be reversible and a mild in situ hydrogen treatment can recover the catalytic activity. The addition of ammonia vapor exhibits a marked effect even on the product selectivity. In the absence of ammonia addition, resulting a low selectivity in the desired C5+ hydrocarbons. In contrast, with the promotion of ammonia vapor, the formation of heavy products is significant increase in the C5+ hydrocarbons.

Fischer-Tropsch synthesis: Effect of ammonia impurities in syngas feed over cobalt catalyst

245th National Meeting (2013)

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