Supported iron catalyst for the direct conversion of synthesis gas to lower olefins Krijn P. de Jong#, J. Xie#, J. Yang*, A. Holmen*, D. Chen* and M. Casavola# # Inorganic Chemistry and Catalysis, Debye Institute for Nanomaterials Science Utrecht University, The Netherlands; k.p.dejong@uu.nl * Department of Chemical Engineering, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway Synthesis gas, a mixture of CO and H2, can be produced from any carbon-containing feedstock such as natural gas, coal or biomass as well as from hydrogenation of CO2. Supported iron catalysts are intensely studied for synthesis gas conversion to lower olefins, referred to as Fischer Tropsch to Olefins (FTO) [1]. Here we present fundamental studies of the effects of promoters (Na + S) and of size of the iron nanoparticles on their performance in FTO. First, using incipient wetness impregnation carbon nanofiber-supported iron catalysts have been prepared with the iron particle size varied between 2-7 nm with promoters (Na + S) being present or absent [2]. Steady-state isotopic transient kinetic analysis (SSITKA) provided coverages and residence times of CHx species and hydrogen. Promoters largely suppressed the hydrogen coverage for larger particles but were less effective with smaller particles. The lower hydrogen coverages coincide nicely with low methane selectivity and enhanced lower olefins selectivities [2, 3]. Second, colloidal synthesis routes have been explored to arrive at well-controlled supported Fe catalysts for FTO. We have studied in particular the attachment of previously synthesized iron oxide nanoparticles (Fe-NP) to a carbon nanotube (CNT) model support showing that tuning the ligand coverage on the Fe-NP is key to achieve proper attachment in combination with a uniform distribution of the particles over the CNT support [4]. References H.M. Torres, et al., Science 335 (2012) 835-838; H.J. Schutle et al., ChemCat Chem 4 (2012), 350-355; H. Xiong et al., Appl. Catal. A 482 (2014), 377-386; J.Z. Lu et al., ACS Catal. 4 (2014) 613-621. H.M. Torres Galvis, J.H. Bitter, T. Davidian, M. Ruitenbeek, A.I. Dugulan and K.P. de Jong, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 134 (2012) 16207-16215; J. Xie. J. Yang, A. Holmen, D. Chen and K.P. de Jong, submitted. M. Casavola, K.P. de Jong et al., in preparation.

Supported iron catalyst for the direct conversion of synthesis gas to lower olefins

249th National Meeting (2015)

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