Nano-Iron Carbide-Catalyzed Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis of Green Fuel: Surface Reaction Kinetics-controlled Regimes in a 3-φ Slurry-Continuous Stirred Tank Reactor

Abstract

Liq. fuel derived from renewable resources is one of the technologies under development as part of "biorefining" platforms. Fisher-Tropsch synthesis (FTS) is a com. technol. producing alternative fuels from coal (CTL- Coal-To-Liq.) and natural gas (GTL; Gas-To-Liq.). FTS Biomass-To-Liq. (BTL), although not yet at the market level, is a continuously-growing field, and its successful commercialization depends on improving techno-economic sustainability. In a previous study by the authors' research team, a plasma-synthesized nano-iron carbide catalyst (PS-Nano-FeC) demonstrated direct relationship to the presence of iron carbide high-FTS and water-gas-shift (WGS) activity, with high-catalyst stability and regenerability in a 3-phase slurry, continuously-stirred tank reactor (S-CSTR). Although these results, along with a recently-published phenomenol. model, are indicators of the industrial potential of this catalyst, transport phenomena, chem. mechanisms and their intrinsic kinetics are needed as reactor scale-up tools. In the work reported here, the PS-Nano-FeC catalyst was tested in a S-CSTR with hexadecane as liq. carrier. We evaluated the optimal operating conditions for a surface-reaction, kinetics-controlled regime. The results include: (1) Reactant conversion and product yields; (2) Fresh and used catalyst instrumental analyses; (3) A model considering all transfer and surface kinetics, accompanied by proof of the rate-controlling step. [on SciFinder(R)]