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A robust and precious metal-free high performance cobalt Fischer–Tropsch catalyst

Nature Catalysis volume 2, pages 623–631 (2019)Cite this article

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Abstract

Slurry-phase Fischer–Tropsch catalysis is widely used in the production of synthetic transportation fuels, but places severe stresses on the catalyst due to the demanding hydrothermal and mechanical reaction conditions. In this Article we report the synthesis, characterization and catalytic performance of a robust cobalt-based Fischer–Tropsch catalyst. Combining an inert alpha alumina support with an appropriate cobalt addition method produces a material that is easy to reduce without precious metal additives and is mechanically and hydrothermally stable. Unlike many Fischer–Tropsch catalysts, this material is resistant to sintering and shows excellent selectivity and good activity in slurry-phase testing over 1,000 hours.

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Fig. 1: Morphology of the catalyst precursors.
Fig. 2: Catalyst reduction.
Fig. 3: Understanding the effect of support surface area.
Fig. 4: Slurry phase testing.
Fig. 5: Electron microscopy of the Co/alpha alumina catalyst encapsulated in wax, before and after slurry-phase reaction.

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Data availability

The data that support the plots within this paper, and other findings of this study, are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge various colleagues at Johnson Matthey for their help with analysis relating to this paper: M. Gregory and P. Fisher (ICP); H. Jobson, J. McNaught, E. Bilbé, K. Simmance and H. Marchbank (XRD); S. Longworth, M. Briceno, S. Spratt, A. Phillips and D. Trung Trang (electron microscopy); N. Barrow and M. Johnson (NMR); C. Baptist (GC analysis); P.J. Ellis (TPH). The authors are especially grateful to J. Foise and M. Francis of Saint Gobain Norpro for supplying the alpha alumina materials used in this work, arranging the steaming experiments, and for many insightful discussions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Johnson Matthey, Reading, UK

    Peter R. Ellis, David W. James & Debra S. Jones

  2. Johnson Matthey, Billingham, UK

    Dan I. Enache & Gordon J. Kelly

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  1. Peter R. Ellis
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Contributions

P.R.E. made the catalysts, performed and coordinated the characterization studies. D.S.J. and D.W.J. performed fixed-bed tests and analysed the results. D.I.E. performed slurry-phase testing and analysed the results. G.J.K. led the research programme. P.R.E. coordinated the production of the manuscript, to which all authors contributed.

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Correspondence to Peter R. Ellis.

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Supplementary methods, Supplementary Figs. 1–19, Supplementary Tables 1–10, Supplementary references.

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Ellis, P.R., Enache, D.I., James, D.W. et al. A robust and precious metal-free high performance cobalt Fischer–Tropsch catalyst. Nat Catal 2, 623–631 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41929-019-0288-5

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