The Fischer-Tropsch (FT) synthesis is a promising method to produce ultra-clean fuel from syngas where cobalt-based catalysts are the most promising ones. The activities of the catalysts are improved by many methods such as modifying support, promoting catalysts by noble metal, and improving preparation method. Microwave irradiation is effectively applied to prepare highly active solid catalysts. The rapid drying, uniform particle size, uniform distribution, and physically strong pellet are the main advantages of this technique. Moreover, microwave heating is beyond conventional heating in terms of thermal gradients and heat flow. The heating process of the former internally occurs within a material whose thermal gradient is insignificant, while that of the latter is performed by external conduction or convection. These advantages lead to a new alternative preparation method of FT catalysts.
Highly active Co/SiO2 catalysts have been prepared by microwave irradiation. The activity and Co particle size of the catalysts solely depended on the irradiative time. The catalytic activity gradually increased with the irradiative time where 14 min was an optimized irradiative time. |
