SMSI EFFECT IN Fe/Nb2O5 CATALYSTS ON THE FISCHER-TROPSCH SYNTHESIS

NICOLÁS A. FELLENZ, ANA M. ALVAREZ, JOSÉ F. BENGOA, NORMA G. GALLEGOS, MARÍA V. CAGNOLI Y SERGIO G. MARCHETTI.

Natal, Brasil

Simposio; 8th Natural Gas Conversion Symposium; 2007

Instituto Brasileiro de Petróleo e Gás - IBP

In the last years, CO hydrogenation has recovered interest as an attractive way to produce hydrocarbons in gasoline or diesel range, due to the reduction reserves and high crude oil prices. One of the most important aims in Fischer-Tropsch (FT) research is the design of selective catalysts in a specific hydrocarbon range. In this way, catalyst supports such as Nb2O5 [1-6] and TiO2 [7,8] have been used. A high selectivity towards a long chain hydrocarbons in the FT synthesis, at high reduction temperature was observed over Co/Nb2O5 [1-6] and Ni/ Nb2O5 [7] catalysts. These results might be explained by the formation of new catalytic sites involving the metal and the partially reduced support during high temperature reduction through strong metal support interaction effect (SMSI). With the purpose to verify if the Fe/Nb2O5 system produces a similar benefitial effect as Co/Nb2O5 or Ni/Nb2O5, we have studied the structural and catalytic properties of this system reduced at different temperatures in the FT synthesis.