Effect of operating conditions on Fischer-Tropsch liquid products

fischer-tropsch synthesis is an important chemical process for the production of liquid fuels. in recent years, the abundant availability of natural gas and the increasing demand of gasoline, diesel and waxes have led to a high interest in further developing this process. the dependencies of liquid hydrocarbon product distribution of iron catalyzed fischer-tropsch synthesis on operating pressure and temperature have been studied. the study followed an experimental planning and the results were analyzed based on surface response methodology. the effects of different operating conditions on product distribution were compared based on number average carbon number and distribution dispersion. results showed that high temperature (270°c) and pressure (27 atm) favor the production of heavy waxes that can be converted to liquid fuels through hydrocracking, while greater direct selectivity towards liquid fuels are favored by low temperature (240°c) and high pressure (30 atm).