Date of Award

2019

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Engineering (MSE)

First Advisor

Debasish Kuila

Abstract

Fischer-Tropsch (F-T) synthesis is the controlled catalyzed conversion of synthesized (syn) gas, a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide, to fuel grade alkanes or hydrocarbons. One of the objectives of NSF-CREST Bioenergy Center is to develop stable catalysts for F-T synthesis with the goal of conversion of syngas enriched with CO2 in microchannel microreactors to liquid fuels. In our previous work, the effect of silica and titania sol-gel as support for F-T studies using syngas (CO:H2; 1:3 or 1:2) was investigated and significant differences in the activities of Co, Fe, and Ru catalysts were observed. In order to investigate synergistic effects (if any) of bimetallic oxide (BMO) support on F-T synthesis, mesoporous silica-titania, silica-alumina, and titania-alumina on F-T were synthesized through one-pot, wet impregnation and nanoencapsulation techniques. Mesoporous supports provide large surface area, a controlled pore size, and even distribution of interactive metals. Characterization studies show that silica-alumina (SiO2-Al2O3) is the most reliable support in terms of thermal stability and control of pore size. Mesoporous SiO2-Al2O3 supported catalysts were individually prepared with 15%wt loading of a single metal and a combination of 10%wt iron and 5%wt cobalt or ruthenium for the activity studies. These catalysts were characterized by SEM-EDX, TEM, XRD, TGA-DSC, TPR and FTIR techniques. Initial F-T studies were carried out in a 3D-Printed stainless-steel microchannel reactor at atmospheric pressure in the temperature range of 210-300℃. Among all catalysts studied, 10Fe5Ru catalyst showed the best catalytic activity in terms of CO conversion, stability and product selectivity to C1-C3 alkanes.

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