Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 2004, 43, 1359-1365
1359
Attrition Resistance and Catalytic Performance of Spray-Dried Iron Fischer-Tropsch Catalysts in a Stirred-Tank Slurry Reactor Dragomir B. Bukur,*,† Wen-Ping Ma,† Victor Carreto-Vazquez,† Lech Nowicki,† and Adeyinka A. Adeyiga‡ Department of Chemical Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843 and Department of Chemical Engineering, Hampton University, Hampton, Virginia 23688
Attrition properties of two spray-dried iron Fischer-Tropsch (F-T) catalysts with compositions 100:5:4.2:11 Fe/Cu/K/(P)SiO2 (catalyst P; P ) precipitated) and 100:5:4.2:1.1 Fe/Cu/K/(B)SiO2 (catalyst B; B ) binder) were studied under reactive conditions in a stirred-tank slurry reactor (STSR) by determining particle size distribution and morphology before and after reaction tests. Catalyst P experienced a large reduction in Sauter mean diameter (87%) after 380 h of testing in the STSR, which is attributed to its morphology (large number of irregularly shaped particles). Low attrition strength of this catalyst was also evident from considerable generation of fine particles (
