Influence of lanthanum on the performance of Zr-Co/activated carbon catalysts in Fischer-Tropsch synthesis

Carbon-based catalysts for Fischer-Tropsch synthesis

Fischer-Tropsch synthesis (FTS) is an essential approach to convert coal, biomass, and shale gas into fuels and chemicals, such as lower olefins, gasoline, diesel, and so on. In recent years, there has been increasing motivation to deploy FTS at commercial scales which has been boosting the discovery of high performance catalysts. In particular, the importance of support in modulating the activity of metals has been recognized and carbonaceous materials have attracted attention as supports for FTS. In this review, we summarised the substantial progress in the preparation of carbon-based catalysts for FTS by applying activated carbon (AC), carbon nanotubes (CNTs), carbon nanofibers (CNFs), carbon spheres (CSs), and metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) derived carbonaceous materials as supports. A general assessment of carbon-based catalysts for FTS, concerning the support and metal properties, activity and products selectivity, and their interactions is systematically discussed. Finally, current challenges and future trends in the development of carbon-based catalysts for commercial utilization in FTS are proposed.

Fischer-Tropsch reaction on a thermally conductive and reusable silicon carbide support

The Fischer-Tropsch (FT) process, in which synthesis gas (syngas) derived from coal, natural gas, and biomass is converted into synthetic liquid fuels and chemicals, is a strongly exothermic reaction, and thus, a large amount of heat is generated during the reaction that could severely modify the overall selectivity of the process. In this Review, we report the advantages that can be offered by different thermally conductive supports, that is, carbon nanomaterials and silicon carbide, pure or doped with different promoters, for the development of more active and selective FT catalysts. This Review follows a discussion regarding the clear trend in the advantages and drawbacks of these systems in terms of energy efficiency and catalytic performance for this most-demanded catalytic process. It is demonstrated that the use of a support with an appropriate pore size and thermal conductivity is an effective strategy to tune and improve the activity of the catalyst and to improve product selectivity in the FT process. The active phase and the recovery of the support, which also represents a main concern in terms of the large amount of FT catalyst used and the cost of the active cobalt phase, is also discussed within the framework of this Review. It is expected that a thermally conductive support such as β-SiC will not only improve the development of the FT process, but that it will also be part of a new support for different catalytic processes for which high catalytic performance and selectivity are strongly needed.