The effects of catalyst surface heterogeneity on the fischer-tropsch synthesis

We find that the surface energetic heterogeneity of Fischer-Tropsch catalysts is either not important kinetically or may be masked by the effect of increasing molecular size, so that the classical Anderson-Schulz-Flory distribution is routinely observed in product distributions. The anomalous yields of C₁ and C₂ observed in many cases may also be due to surface heterogeneity but can in practice be readily, and more conveniently, accounted for by assigning individual rate constants to their formation. The “break” sometimes observed in ASF distributions cannot be explained by surface heterogeneity and is best explained by the presence of two distinct modes of product formation.