Project Details
Projekt
Improvement of diffusive mass transport in hierachically structured Fischer-Tropsch catalysts
Applicants
Professor Dr.-Ing. Gunther Brenner; Professor Dr.-Ing. Thomas Turek; Professor Dr. Alfred Weber
Subject Area
Chemical and Thermal Process Engineering
Mechanical Process Engineering
Fluid Mechanics
Mechanical Process Engineering
Fluid Mechanics
Term
from 2011 to 2018
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 206052266
The pore system of cobalt-based catalysts employed for low-temperature Fischer-Tropsch-synthesis is completely filled with liquid products under typical reaction conditions. This leads to lower catalyst utilization and especially to decreased selectivity and yield with regard to the desired long-chain hydrocarbons at the expense of undesirable methane formation. During the previous phases of the project, the optimization potential of introducing larger transport pores to the catalyst structure was investigated theoretically and experimentally. It was shown that the accessibility of the pore system can be enhanced. However, an even greater improvement could be achieved by introduction of parallel, cylindrical transport pores, which shall be prepared by a newly developed template method in the next project phase. Moreover, theoretical considerations predict a dramatic amplification of the catalyst utilization if it would be possible to introduce omniphobic or superoleophobic pores that remain free of liquid products. Such pores shall be prepared by different methods, theoretically described and experimentally tested.
DFG Programme
Priority Programmes
