Effect of reaction conditions and kinetic study on the Fischer-Tropsch synthesis over fused Co-Ni /Al_2O_3 catalyst

Co-Ni/Al₂O₃ catalyst was prepared by the fusion method and used in Fischer-Tropsch synthesis (FTS). The catalysts were characterized by means of nitrogen sorption and scanning electron microscopy. The effect of some reaction conditions such as temperature, pressure and H₂/CO feed ratio on the catalytic performance of Co-Ni/Al₂O₃ in CO hydrogenation was investigated in a fixed-bed reactor. The results indicate that the optimum reaction conditions are 250 ℃, 0.3 MPa, H₂/CO feed ratio of 2.0, and GHSV of 3 000 h^-1. Kinetically, the reaction rate was correlated with the Langmuir-Hinshelwood-Hougen-Watson type models. The activation energy for the best fitted model is 88.41 kJ/mol, suggesting that the intra-particle mass transport is not significant.