Effect of calcination conditions on the structure and catalytic performance of MgO supported Fe–Co–Ni catalyst for CO hydrogenation

•It was found that the optimum calcination temperature of Fe–Co–Ni catalyst was 500 °C.•Also it was found that the optimum calcination time was 6 h.•Finally, it was found that the optimum atmosphere of calcination was air.

The Fe–Co–Ni catalysts prepared using co-precipitation procedure, were tested for production of light olefins via Fischer–Tropsch synthesis. The effect of a range of calcination conditions such as temperature, time and atmosphere of calcination on the structure and catalytic performance of MgO supported Fe–Co–Ni catalyst was investigated. It was found that the catalyst calcined at 500 °C for 6 h under air atmosphere has shown the best catalytic performance for CO hydrogenation. Characterization of catalyst precursors and calcined samples (fresh and used) was carried out using powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS) and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) measurements. It was observed that all of different investigated variables influenced the structure, morphology and catalytic performance of the catalysts.

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