The influence of water and of alkali promotor on the carbon number distribution of fischer-tropsch products formed over iron catalysts

The carbon number distribution of Fischer-Tropsch products formed over an alkalized precipitated iron catalyst has been studied as a function of the water vapor pressure of the synthesis gas. The carbon number distribution of formed hydrocarbons is characterized by a bimodal Schulz-Flory distribution of growth probabilities P1 ≈ 0.6 and P2 ≈ 0.87 attributed to unpromoted and promoted (alkalized) sites on the catalyst surface. Promoted sites are more stable with respect to oxidation (deactivation) by water than unpromoted sites. The growth probability of unpromoted sites decreases with increasing ratio P/P — Studies using Mossbauer spectroscopy have shown that iron foils treated with water c…