CO and CO2 hydrogenation study on supported cobalt Fischer-Tropsch synthesis catalysts

The conversion of CO/H-2, CO2/H-2 and (CO + CO2)/H-2 mixtures using cobalt catalysts under typical Fischer-Tropsch synthesis conditions has been carried out. The results show that in the presence of CO, CO2 hydrogenation is slow. For the cases of only CO or only CO2 hydrogenation, similar catalytic activities were obtained but the selectivities were very different. For CO hydrogenation, normal Fischer-Tropsch synthesis product distributions were observed with an a of about 0.80; in contrast, the CO2 hydrogenation products contained about 70% or more of methane. Thus, CO2 and CO hydrogenation appears to follow different reaction pathways. The catalyst deactivates more rapidly for the conversion of CO than for CO2 even though the H2O/H-2 ratio is at least two times larger for the conversion of CO2. Since the catalyst ages more slowly in the presence of the higher H2O/H-2 conditions, it is concluded that water alone does not account for the deactivation and that there is a deactivation pathway that involves the assistance of CO. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.