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Low Temperature Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis: History
Please note this is an old version of this entry, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
Subjects: Chemistry, Organic
Contributor: Helena Kang

The Fischer–Tropsch reaction converts synthesis gas (CO + H2) into hydrocarbons and water on a solid catalyst by repeated C–C coupling of C1 surface intermediates. Low-temperature Fischer–Tropsch (LTFT) synthesis is the regime, typically near 200–250 °C on cobalt or iron catalysts, that favors long-chain n-alkanes and waxes over the lighter, more olefinic slate of high-temperature Fischer–Tropsch operation. ε-Iron carbide is an active iron phase for this low-temperature conversion of syngas to hydrocarbons [1]. Product selectivity within the LTFT window can be shifted from paraffins toward α-olefins by modifying the catalyst environment without leaving the low-temperature manifold [2]. Plasma-synthesized nanocatalysts for CO hydrogenation under LTFT conditions instantiate the same C1 polymerization on a nanostructured metal surface [3]. The concept is bounded as catalytic CO hydrogenation with C–C chain growth at the lower-temperature FT branch; it is not methanol synthesis, not the methanol-to-olefins reaction, and not high-temperature FT, whose operating temperature, catalyst formulation, and carbon-number distribution differ.

  • Fischer–Tropsch synthesis
  • low-temperature FT
  • syngas conversion
  • iron carbide

Chemical Synthesis and Reactions • Organic Chemistry • Chemistry • Physical Sciences

References

  1. Ke Xu; Bo Sun; Jun Lin; Wen Wen; Yan Pei; Shirun Yan; Minghua Qiao; Xiaoxin Zhang; Baoning Zong; ε-Iron carbide as a low-temperature Fischer–Tropsch synthesis catalyst. Nat. Commun. 2014, 5, 5783, 10.1038/ncomms6783.
  2. B. Gu; A. Y. Khodakov; V. V. Ordomsky; Selectivity shift from paraffins to α-olefins in low temperature Fischer–Tropsch synthesis in the presence of carboxylic acids. Chem. Commun. 2018, 54, 2345-2348, 10.1039/c7cc08692j.
  3. James Aluha; Stéphane Gutierrez; François Gitzhofer; Nicolas Abatzoglou; Use of Plasma-Synthesized Nano-Catalysts for CO Hydrogenation in Low-Temperature Fischer–Tropsch Synthesis: Effect of Catalyst Pre-Treatment. Nanomater. 2018, 8, 822, 10.3390/nano8100822.
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