(760g) Effect of Mesoporous Silica Support ( MCM-41, SBA-15, KIT-6) on Fischer Tropsch Studies Using Co-Ru Bimetallic Catalyst in 3D- Printed Stainless Steel Microreactor

Fuel production from syngas, produced from biomass gasification or dry reforming of biogas, using Fischer-Tropsch (F-T) synthesis has attracted tremendous attention in recent years. The development of stable catalysts and their supports for F-T synthesis is the major thrust of our research for syngas conversion (CO:H₂) to higher alkanes using 3D- printed stainless steel (SS) microreactors . Microreactors provide high specific surface area in the range of 10,000-50,000 m²/m³ compared to the conventional reactors with ~100-1000 m²/m³ . In this work, SS microreactors containing channels with 500 μm X 500 μm X 2.4 cm were CAD designed and 3D printed for Fischer-Tropsch (FT) synthesis. Different types of silica support containing 10% Co 5% Ru (S= MCM-41[1], SBA-15, KIT-6) were synthesized using one pot method. The catalysts were characterized by SEM-EDX, TEM, TPR, TGA-DSC, XPS, ICP and XRD techniques. All the catalysts have high surface areas without loss of ordered mesoporous structure as confirmed by XRD and TEM studies. The TEM images show that the metal nanoparticals in the range of 35-50 nm are dispersed in mesoporous support. The microchannels were uniformly coated with the catalyst using polyvinyl alcohol.. The catalytic performance for F-T synthesis was carried out in SS microreactor at atmospheric pressure and at temperatures 210 ^oC, 240 ^oC and 270 ^oC with H₂/CO molar ratio of 3 [1] and 2. The specific support and temperature have a significant effect on F-T- synthesis. The selectivity, conversion, stability and kinetic studies of these catalysts using different silica supports for F-T synthesis will be presented.

References

1. N.Mohammad et al. , " Fischer Tropsch studies in a 3-D Printed Stainless Steel Microchannel Microreactor using Cobalt-based Bimetallic-MCM-41," Catalysis Today” (Submitted)