Chemical Engineering & Technology, Vol.28, No.8, 930-938, 2005
Polymerization kinetics of Fischer-Tropsch reaction on iron based catalysts and product grade optimization
The polymerization kinetics of Fischer-Tropsch reactions on a K-promoted Fe catalyst was studied. To represent the product distribution, a kinetic model was developed based on alkyl and alkenyl mechanisms for hydrocarbon chain propagation, which were assumed to occur simultaneously in the Fischer-Tropsch synthesis. The conclusion was drawn that superimposed Anderson -Schulz-Flory (ASF) distributions with different chain growth probabilities, on iron catalysts, can be the result of different chain growth mechanisms. The polymerization mechanism was used to obtain the product distribution for several conditions, and the optimum conditions for the production of transportation fuels were found.