Effects of Vanadium and Zinc Promotion on the Olefin Selectivity of Iron Fischer-Tropsch Catalysts

The aim in most of the studies on Fischer-Tropsch synthesis has been the selective production of olefins, which are the raw materials of petrochemical industry. In this study, the effects of V and Zn addition, separately or together in the form of their oxides, to Fe catalysts obtained through precipitation on the olefin selectivity of the catalysts have been investigated. The experiments have been done in a fixed-bed reactor at different temperatures and pressures with various ratios of H2/CO. The addition of V separately (catalyst 2) or together with Zn (catalyst 1) has greatly increased the olefin selectivity of Fe catalyst. So the amount of olefin in hydrocarbon fractions has reached over 80%. Besides, the ?-olefin parts in olefin fractions have gone over 90%. But the addition of Zn separately has been less effective on the olefin selectivity of the catalyst. © 1989, American Chemical Society. All rights reserved.