Effect of preparation method on catalytic performance, structure and surface reaction rates of MgO supported Fe–Co–Mn catalyst for CO hydrogenation

The MgO supported Fe–Co–Mn catalyst was prepared using different preparation methods including co-precipitation, sol–gel, incipient wetness impregnation and dry impregnation. All of these catalysts were tested for Fischer–Tropsch synthesis under the same operational conditions of T = 300 °C, P = 1 bar, H2/CO = 2/1 and GHSV = 4500 h−1. It was found that the co-precipitated catalyst has shown the better catalytic performance for CO hydrogenation. The effect of the preparation method on different surface reaction rates was also investigated and it was found that the preparation methods can influenced the rates of different surface reaction rates. Catalyst characterization was carried out using XRD, SEM, BET, TPR, TGA and DSC.