Effects of promoters on catalytic performance of Fe-Co/SiO2 catalyst for Fischer-Tropsch synthesis

2%Fe-10%Co/SiO2 catalysts with different potassium or zirconium loadings were prepared by aqueous incipient wetness impregnation and tested for Fischer-Tropsch synthesis in a flow reactor, using H2/CO = 1.6 (molar ratio) in the feed, under the condition of an overall pressure of 1 MPa, GHSV of 600 h−1 and temperature of 503 K. The zirconium and potassium promoters remarkably influenced hydrocarbon distribution of the products. CO conversion increased on the catalysts with the increase of zirconium loadings, which indicated that zirconium enhanced the activity of iron-cobalt catalysts. Low potassium loadings also enhanced the activity of the catalysts. However, high potassium loading made CO conversion on the catalysts decrease and weakened the secondary hydrogenations. The catalyst was characterized by BET, XRD and TPR. The catalyst characterization revealed that the Co3O4 phase was presented on the fresh catalyst, whereas the spinel phase of Fe-Co alloy and CoO existed on the used catalyst.