Fischer-Tropsch synthesis: Impact of potassium and zirconium promoters on the activity and structure of an ultrafine iron oxide catalyst

Slurry phase Fischer-Tropsch synthesis was conducted with an ultrafine iron oxide catalyst promoted with either 0.5 at% K or 1.0 at% Zr or both. Pretreatment in CO yielded higher conversions and a more stable catalyst than activation in hydrogen or synthesis gas. Hydrogen pretreatment of K promoted catalysts and synthesis gas activation in general were less effective. Mössbauer spectroscopy and XRD showed-Fe₅C₂ and -Fe_2.2C were formed during pretreatment in CO and did not depend on promoters present. Catalysts pretreated in H2 were reduced to metallic Fe and Fe₃O₄; promotion with K and Zr decreased the extent of reduction. Hydrogen pretreated catalysts, promoted with K, lost surface area and carbided rapidly under synthesis conditions. Activation in synthesis gas reduced all catalysts to Fe₃O₄. Subsequent synthesis did not affect the phase present for the unpromoted and Zr promoted catalysts while those promoted with K formed -Fe₅C₂ and -Fe_2.2C. It is concluded that pretreatment type is more important to the catalyst activity during the early period of synthesis than the impact of promotion with K and/or Zr and that changes in the bulk composition of iron catalysts do not necessarily correlate with changes in activity.