Preparation of Iron-cobalt-cerium Heterogeneous Nano-catalysts to Produce Light Hydrocarbons from Synthesis Gas

Nowadays, due to the decline in oil supplies and raising the price of petroleum, countries have been led to other sources of fuel and energy. In this respect, the use of methods such as the production of light hydrocarbons from synthesis gas is highly regarded by the Fischer-Tropsch process. This process is performed by heterogeneous catalysts consisting of two parts; a catalyst support (generally porous and made of silica), and an active phase (generally made of metal). In fact, the catalyst is the heart of Fischer-Tropsch process. In this study, iron-cobalt-cerium tri-metallic nano-catalyst based on silica was prepared by the wet impregnation method. The catalyst was tested in a fixed bed microreactor and a wide range of products was analyzed by GC technique. The results show that by increasing temperature, the CO conversion is increased and the efficiency of products is improved. Finally, the structure of nano-catalyst was characterized using the techniques of scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and temperature programed-reduction (TPR) to realize the particle size and surface properties of the catalyst