The improvement of heat transfer using Co/SiO2 spiral structured catalyst for green diesel production by Fischer–Tropsch synthesis

In this study, the improvement of heat transfer was applied to eliminate hotspots of a highly exothermic reaction, Fischer-Tropsch synthesis (FTS), by means of two facile methods: (I) adding high thermal conductive materials media diluted in catalysts (SiC and Al chips), and (II) using structured reactors equipped with well-designed structured catalysts with advantages of heat dissipation/removal. The 20%Co/SiO₂ catalyst powder prepared by simple impregnation was employed for constructing structured catalysts and granular packed bed catalysts. The structured catalyst was prepared by coating method of Co/SiO₂ slurry on an aluminum spiral and plate substrate. The catalytic performance of as-prepared catalysts was then tested for FTS in a fixed-bed reactor at 210-230 °C, 20 bar. Both gaseous and liquid products were collected and analyzed. The heat transfer improvement of packed bed catalytic system and structured catalytic system were compared and discussed. As a result, the structured catalytic system with spiral structured catalyst can provide the best improvement of heat/mass transfer, resulting in enhanced diesel selectivity, though the oil production rate was unsatisfactory. Meanwhile, among the packed bed catalytic systems, SiC media possessed the best heat removal material, producing the highest oil yield. In addition, the fresh and spent catalysts were analyzed by several techniques including TEM, SEM, XRD, BET, ICP-OES, H₂-TPR, and TGA to relate the physicochemical properties of the prepared catalysts and its FTS performance.