The effect of reducing gases on raw iron ore catalyst for Fischer-Tropsch synthesis

Background: Catalyst replacement is one of the significant costs of the Fischer-Tropsch (FT) synthesis Operational Expenses (OPEX) that needs to be considered to make the process viable, necessitating the need to explore cheaper options precursors such as iron ore. Methods: In this study, raw iron ore catalyst was ground and sieved into 1-2 mm particle sizes then characterized using different characterization techniques. TPR studies were carried out on the catalyst using three different reducing agents: hydrogen (H-2), carbon monoxide (CO), and syngas (a mixture of H-2 and CO). In addition, the catalyst was reduced in situ with three different reducing agents and tested for FT synthesis at the same operating conditions. The TPR results were linked to the raw iron ore FT activity to probe the effect of the reducing agent(s) on the catalytic performance. Significant findings: The TPR showed that the raw iron ore reduced with CO requires a lower temperature for complete reduction than when H-2 or syngas are used as reducing agents. The CO reduced catalyst exhibited the highest CO conversion of 94.1%, followed by the H-2 reduced catalyst with CO conversion of 80.1%, and while the syngas reduced catalyst showed the least CO conversion of 54.1%. (C) 2021 Taiwan Institute of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.