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

Nowadays, due to the decline in oil supplies on the one hand and raising the price of petroleum, on the other hand, countries have led to other sources of fuel and energy. The use of methods such as the production of light hydrocarbons from synthesis gas is highly regarded by the Fischer-Tropsch process, in these countries. This process is performed by heterogeneous catalysts, which consist of two parts. The first part is a catalyst support (generally porous and made of silica) and the second is an active phase, which is 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 micro-reactor and a wide range of products was analyzed by GC technique. By increasing temperature, the CO conversion was increased and the efficiency of products was improved. Finally, the structure of nano-catalyst was characterized using the technique of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to realize the particle size and surface properties of the catalyst.