A. Comazzi

Fe-based heterogeneous catalysts for the Fischer-Tropsch reaction: Sonochemical synthesis and bench-scale experimental tests.

The sonochemical synthesis of nanostructured materials owes its origins to the extreme conditions created during acoustic cavitation, i.e., the formation of localized hot spots in the core of collapsing bubbles in a liquid irradiated with high intensity ultrasound (US). In particular, in the present work a sonochemical synthesis has been investigated for the production of three different iron-based samples supported on SiO2 and loaded with different metals and promoters (10 %wt of Fe; 30 %wt of Fe; 30 %wt of Fe, 2 %wt of K and 3.75 %wt of Cu) active in the Fischer-Tropsch (FT) process. Sonochemically synthesized heterogeneous catalysts were characterized by BET, XRPD, TPR, ICP, CHN, TEM, SEM and then tested in a fixed bed FT-bench-scale rig fed with a mixture of H2 and CO at a H2/CO molar ratio equal to 2, at activation temperatures of 350-400°C and reaction temperatures of 250-260°C. The experimental results showed that the ultrasonic samples are effective catalysts for the FT process. Notably, increasing the activation temperature increased CO conversion, while product selectivity did not diminish. All the sonochemically prepared samples presented in this work provided better catalytic results compared to the corresponding traditional FT impregnated catalysts.

Preservation of carotenes in the deacidification of crude palm oil

Carotenoids in CPO can be preserved during the deacidification processes performed under mild conditions. The carotenes adsorption on the catalyst surface makes them more stable to air oxidation and to the oil acid content. Satisfactory FFA conversions were obtained and the catalyst showed good performance after 186 hours of work.

Characterization of Cobalt Catalysts on Biomass-Derived Carbon Supports

Cobalt catalysts are known to have a high activity and selectivity in the Fischer–Tropsch reaction converting synthesis gas to higher hydrocarbons (C5+). These catalysts have been supported by different porous materials. Porous carbon materials like activated carbon (AC) have physical and chemical surface properties that affect the preparation of supported metal catalysts and can easily be tailored. In this study, AC was produced by carbonization and steam activation of lignin, a waste fraction from the Kraft pulping process. A series of Co/AC-catalysts was produced and characterized by several techniques. According to the results, tailored properties (high surface area, mesoporosity) were obtained for carbon supports. Further, ash content could be reduced by acid treatment. Co/AC-catalysts prepared by ultrasonic assisted impregnation have high metal dispersion (10.1%). It was also observed that small metal particles were difficult to reduce, but acid (HNO3) treatment has a positive effect on reduction temperatures.

Integrated reactor staging and plant optimization of a Biomass-To-Liquid technology

Abstract In this work an industrial Biomass-To-Liquid (BTL) plant simulation and optimization are presented. Biomass is first gasified with oxygen and steam, and the produced syngas is fed to a multi-tubular fixed bed reactor for Fischer-Tropsch (FT) synthesis, obtaining a distribution of hydrocarbons with different molecular weight. A simplified model for the biomass gasification section is implemented in HYSYS® V8.4, while the Fischer-Tropsch reactor is simulated using MATLAB® R2013a. The kinetic parameters of the FT reaction have been determined by using a non-liner regression performed with the experimenta data obtained with a bench-scale FT-rig. The model developed for the Fischer-Tropsch reactor takes into account the catalytic pellets effectiveness factor and the eventual formation of a liquid phase in each point along reactor’s axial coordinate. The whole BTL plant is simulated connecting MATLAB and HYSYS. Moreover, the staging of the Fischer-Tropsch reactor is studied performing a techno-economic analysis of three different plant configurations and evaluating the corresponding pay-back time.