Intrinsic kinetics of Fischer-Tropsch synthesis over Co/CNTs catalyst: Effects of metallic cobalt particle size

The influence of the average particle size of cobalt nanoparticles on the kinetics parameters of Fischer-Tropsch synthesis (FTS) were investigated over carbon nanotubes (CNTs) supported cobalt catalysts. Five Co/CNTs catalysts with different particle sizes were prepared by microemulsion and impregnation methods. To achieve a series of catalysts with different Co particle size, water-to-surfactant molar ratio (W/S) in microemulsion system varied from 2 to 12. A useful kinetic model was used to fit the experimental results and the size-dependent of kinetic parameters were evaluated. The experimental results suggest that the average Co particle size influenced on kinetic parameters such as rate constant, and adsorption parameter. Experimental results show that by decreasing the average Co particle size both the intrinsic reaction rate constant (kFTS), and adsorption parameter are increased.