Ce travail de doctorat s’inscrit dans le cadre de la recherche fondamentale inhérente à la réaction catalytique d’hydrogénation du CO, qui permet de produire du pétrole de synthèse à partir des autres ressources fossiles disponibles à l’état naturel (gaz naturel et charbon). Les objectifs de ce travail s’articulent autour de deux méthodes originales, respectivement de préparation et de caractérisation des catalyseurs. La première permet la formation in situ de catalyseurs par voie oxalique, alors que la seconde est une méthode de cinétique transitoire chimique appliquée à la réaction CO + H2. Dans un premier temps, la préparation de catalyseurs « modèles » de cobalt et de nickel a été réalisée en faisant intervenir un oxalate comme précurseur à la formation in situ du catalyseur. L’étude de cette méthode de préparation par « voie oxalique » nous a tout d’abord permis de discuter du mécanisme de formation de l’oxalate, que nous envisageons comme une polymérisation faisant intervenir des ligands oxalate tétradentates établissant des ponts entre les atomes métalliques. La décomposition thermique de l’oxalate de cobalt a été étudiée dans un second temps. Nous nous somme penchés en particulier sur l’influence de l’atmosphère de la décomposition sur la nature du catalyseur obtenu in fine. Utiliser l’hydrogène comme gaz réducteur permet d’obtenir des catalyseurs purement métalliques développant une surface spécifique intéressante. Ces catalyseurs ont été utilisés pour les études cinétiques transitoires chimiques de la réaction CO + H2. Les phénomènes transitoires observés ont permis de corréler les hypothèses formulées pour l’élaboration d’un mécanisme original initialement proposé par A. Frennet. En particulier, la dépendance des vitesses réactionnelles aux pressions partielles de CO et d’hydrogène permet d’envisager un mécanisme d’allongement de chaîne basé sur la réactivité d’un intermédiaire réactionnel avec les réactifs en phase gazeuse. Au vu des recouvrements de surface sous conditions réactionnelles ainsi que des phénomènes transitoires observés, cet intermédiaire est constitué de plusieurs atomes (carbone, oxygène et hydrogène), et est à l’origine de la formation des produits de la réaction (CH4 et alcanes à plus longues chaînes), dont la désorption en phase gazeuse suit un processus en deux étapes lors duquel l’influence de l’hydrogène est primordiale.

The main objectives of the present Ph.D. thesis are comprehensive studies on activity, selectivity and stability of iron catalysts supported on carbon nanotubes (CNTs) for Fischer-Tropsch (FT) reactions. In order to prepare iron catalyst supported on CNTs, it was necessary to study CNT synthesis in bulk scale. Therefore, a part of this research was devoted to the production and characterization of CNTs. High purity, aligned films of multi-walled carbon nanotubes were grown on quartz substrates by feeding a solution of ferrocene in toluene, in a carrier gas of Ar/H2, into a horizontal chemical vapour deposition (CVD) reactor. Results for CNTs synthesized using a wide range of toluene concentrations indicated that, for carbon concentrations higher than ~9.6 mol/m3, catalyst deactivation occurs due to encapsulation of iron metal particles.<p> As the first step of catalyst development for FT reactions a fixed bed micro-reactor system was built and the effects of acid treatment on the activity, product selectivity and stability of iron Fischer-Tropsch catalysts supported on carbon nanotubes were studied. The results of Raman analysis showed that the acid treatment increased the number of functional groups as anchoring sites for metal particles. Fe catalysts supported on CNTs which were pre-treated with nitric acid at 110°C were more stable and active compared to the un-treated catalysts. In order to study the effects of catalytic metal site position on FT reactions, a method was developed to control the position of the deposited metal clusters on either the inner or outer surfaces of the CNTs. According to the results of the FT experiments, the catalyst with catalytic metal sites inside the pores exhibited higher selectivity (C₅⁺ = 36 wt%) to heavier hydrocarbons compared to one with sites on the outer surfaces (C₅⁺ = 24 wt%) . In addition, deposition of catalytic sites on the interior surfaces of the nanotubes resulted in a more stable catalyst.<p> The effects of pore diameter and structure of iron catalysts supported on CNTs on Fischer-Tropsch reaction rates and selectivities were also studied. In order to examine the effects of pore diameter, two types of CNTs with similar surface areas and different average pore sizes (12 and 63 nm) were prepared. It was found that the deposition of metal particles on the CNT with narrow pore size (in the range of larger than 10-15 nm) resulted in more active and selective catalyst due to higher degree of reduction and higher metal dispersion.<p> Promotion of the iron catalyst supported on CNTs with Molybdinium in the range of 0.5-1 wt % resulted in a more stable catalyst. Mo improves the stability of the iron catalyst by preventing the metal site agglomeration. Promotion of the iron catalysts with potassium increased the activity of FT and water-gas-shift reactions and the average molecular weight of the hydrocarbon products. Promotion of the iron catalyst supported on CNTs with 0.5% Cu and 1wt% K resulted in an active (5.6 mg HC/g-Fe.h), stable and selective catalyst (C₅⁺ selectivity of 76%) which exhibited higher activity and better selectivity compared to the similar catalysts reported in the literature. Kinetic studies were conducted to evaluate reaction rate parameters using the developed potassium and copper promoted catalyst. It was found that the CO₂ inhibition is not significant for FT reactions. On the other hand, water effects and presence of vacant sites should be considered in the kinetic models. A first-order reaction model verified that the iron catalyst supported on CNTs is more active than precipitated and commercial catalysts. The results of the present Ph.D. thesis research provide a map for designing catalysts using carbon nanotubes as a support. The key messages of the present thesis are as follows:<p> 1- If the interaction of the metal site and support is strong, which poses negative effects on the catalytic performance, carbon nanotubes can be one solution.<p> 2- Acid pre-treatments are required prior to impregnating nanotubes with metal salt solution. Also, the strong acid treatment should be used for deposition of catalytic sites inside the pores of nanotubes.<p> 3- The structure and pore size of nanotubes have significant influence on the stability, activity and selectivity of the target catalyst.<p> 4- The position of the catalytic sites has to be selected based on the type of reaction. In the case of Fischer-Tropsch reactions, the deposition of catalytic sites inside the pores of nanotubes results in higher activity, longer life span.<p> The outcome of this Ph.D. thesis has been published/submitted in the form of 13 journal papers, one patent, one technical report and presented at 11 conferences.

This research project is part of a larger Canadian endeavour to evaluate feasibility of using new nanocatalyst formulations for Fischer-Tropsch synthesis (FTS) to convert fossil-derived or renewable gaseous fuels into green diesel. The green diesel is a clean fuel (with no aromatics and sulfur compounds) suitable for the commonly used transportation system. The catalyst investigated is cobalt metal supported on carbon nanotubes (CNTs). The physical properties of CNTs have improved the common cobalt catalyst currently used in industry. Carbon nanotubes have high surface area, a very stable for FTS activity and, contrary to other common supports, do not interact with the catalyst active phase to produce undesirable compounds. Moreover, CNTs differ from graphite in their purity and by their cylindrical form, which increases the metal dispersion and allows confinement of the particles inside the tubes. Thus, carbon nanotubes as a new type of carbon material have shown interesting properties, favoring catalytic activity for FTS cobalt catalyst. Their surface area can be modified from 170 to 214 m^2/g through acid treatment. The CNT support lowers the amount of Ru promoter needed to increase the catalyst activity up to 80 % CO conversion and potassium promoter increases the selectivity for á-olefins. The olefin to paraffin (O/P) ratio for Co/CNT and CoK/CNT are 0.76 and 0.90, respectively. Moreover, the Co-Fe bimetallic catalysts supported on CNT have proved to be much more attractive in terms of alcohol formation, up to 26.3 % for the Co10Fe4/CNT. The structural characteristics of CNTs have shown to be suitable for use as catalytic support materials for FTS using microemulsion preparation method as applied to produce nanoparticle catalysts. Microemulsion technique results show uniform nanoparticle that are easy to reduce. In addition, the confinement of the particles inside the CNT has improved the lifetime of the catalyst by decreasing the rate of sintering. The deactivation rate at high FTS activity is linear (XCO = -0.13 t(hr) + 75) and at low FTS activity is related to a power law expression of order 11.4 for the cobalt particles outside the tubes and 30.2 for the cobalt particles inside the tube. The optimized catalyst studied was the CoRuK/CNT catalyst. The best kinetic model to describe the CoRuK/CNT catalyst is: 18.5 x 10 ^-5 PH2^0.39/ (1 + 7.2 10 ^-2 PCO^0.72 PH2^0.1)^2.

The main objectives of the present Ph.D. thesis are comprehensive studies on activity, selectivity and stability of iron catalysts supported on carbon nanotubes (CNTs) for Fischer-Tropsch (FT) reactions. In order to prepare iron catalyst supported on CNTs, it was necessary to study CNT synthesis in bulk scale. Therefore, a part of this research was devoted to the production and characterization of CNTs. High purity, aligned films of multi-walled carbon nanotubes were grown on quartz substrates by feeding a solution of ferrocene in toluene, in a carrier gas of Ar/H2, into a horizontal chemical vapour deposition (CVD) reactor. Results for CNTs synthesized using a wide range of toluene concentrations indicated that, for carbon concentrations higher than ~9.6 mol/m3, catalyst deactivation occurs due to encapsulation of iron metal particles.<p> As the first step of catalyst development for FT reactions a fixed bed micro-reactor system was built and the effects of acid treatment on the activity, product selectivity and stability of iron Fischer-Tropsch catalysts supported on carbon nanotubes were studied. The results of Raman analysis showed that the acid treatment increased the number of functional groups as anchoring sites for metal particles. Fe catalysts supported on CNTs which were pre-treated with nitric acid at 110°C were more stable and active compared to the un-treated catalysts. In order to study the effects of catalytic metal site position on FT reactions, a method was developed to control the position of the deposited metal clusters on either the inner or outer surfaces of the CNTs. According to the results of the FT experiments, the catalyst with catalytic metal sites inside the pores exhibited higher selectivity (C₅⁺ = 36 wt%) to heavier hydrocarbons compared to one with sites on the outer surfaces (C₅⁺ = 24 wt%) . In addition, deposition of catalytic sites on the interior surfaces of the nanotubes resulted in a more stable catalyst.<p> The effects of pore diameter and structure of iron catalysts supported on CNTs on Fischer-Tropsch reaction rates and selectivities were also studied. In order to examine the effects of pore diameter, two types of CNTs with similar surface areas and different average pore sizes (12 and 63 nm) were prepared. It was found that the deposition of metal particles on the CNT with narrow pore size (in the range of larger than 10-15 nm) resulted in more active and selective catalyst due to higher degree of reduction and higher metal dispersion.<p> Promotion of the iron catalyst supported on CNTs with Molybdinium in the range of 0.5-1 wt % resulted in a more stable catalyst. Mo improves the stability of the iron catalyst by preventing the metal site agglomeration. Promotion of the iron catalysts with potassium increased the activity of FT and water-gas-shift reactions and the average molecular weight of the hydrocarbon products. Promotion of the iron catalyst supported on CNTs with 0.5% Cu and 1wt% K resulted in an active (5.6 mg HC/g-Fe.h), stable and selective catalyst (C₅⁺ selectivity of 76%) which exhibited higher activity and better selectivity compared to the similar catalysts reported in the literature. Kinetic studies were conducted to evaluate reaction rate parameters using the developed potassium and copper promoted catalyst. It was found that the CO₂ inhibition is not significant for FT reactions. On the other hand, water effects and presence of vacant sites should be considered in the kinetic models. A first-order reaction model verified that the iron catalyst supported on CNTs is more active than precipitated and commercial catalysts. The results of the present Ph.D. thesis research provide a map for designing catalysts using carbon nanotubes as a support. The key messages of the present thesis are as follows:<p> 1- If the interaction of the metal site and support is strong, which poses negative effects on the catalytic performance, carbon nanotubes can be one solution.<p> 2- Acid pre-treatments are required prior to impregnating nanotubes with metal salt solution. Also, the strong acid treatment should be used for deposition of catalytic sites inside the pores of nanotubes.<p> 3- The structure and pore size of nanotubes have significant influence on the stability, activity and selectivity of the target catalyst.<p> 4- The position of the catalytic sites has to be selected based on the type of reaction. In the case of Fischer-Tropsch reactions, the deposition of catalytic sites inside the pores of nanotubes results in higher activity, longer life span.<p> The outcome of this Ph.D. thesis has been published/submitted in the form of 13 journal papers, one patent, one technical report and presented at 11 conferences.

This research project is part of a larger Canadian endeavour to evaluate feasibility of using new nanocatalyst formulations for Fischer-Tropsch synthesis (FTS) to convert fossil-derived or renewable gaseous fuels into green diesel. The green diesel is a clean fuel (with no aromatics and sulfur compounds) suitable for the commonly used transportation system. The catalyst investigated is cobalt metal supported on carbon nanotubes (CNTs). The physical properties of CNTs have improved the common cobalt catalyst currently used in industry. Carbon nanotubes have high surface area, a very stable for FTS activity and, contrary to other common supports, do not interact with the catalyst active phase to produce undesirable compounds. Moreover, CNTs differ from graphite in their purity and by their cylindrical form, which increases the metal dispersion and allows confinement of the particles inside the tubes. Thus, carbon nanotubes as a new type of carbon material have shown interesting properties, favoring catalytic activity for FTS cobalt catalyst. Their surface area can be modified from 170 to 214 m^2/g through acid treatment. The CNT support lowers the amount of Ru promoter needed to increase the catalyst activity up to 80 % CO conversion and potassium promoter increases the selectivity for á-olefins. The olefin to paraffin (O/P) ratio for Co/CNT and CoK/CNT are 0.76 and 0.90, respectively. Moreover, the Co-Fe bimetallic catalysts supported on CNT have proved to be much more attractive in terms of alcohol formation, up to 26.3 % for the Co10Fe4/CNT. The structural characteristics of CNTs have shown to be suitable for use as catalytic support materials for FTS using microemulsion preparation method as applied to produce nanoparticle catalysts. Microemulsion technique results show uniform nanoparticle that are easy to reduce. In addition, the confinement of the particles inside the CNT has improved the lifetime of the catalyst by decreasing the rate of sintering. The deactivation rate at high FTS activity is linear (XCO = -0.13 t(hr) + 75) and at low FTS activity is related to a power law expression of order 11.4 for the cobalt particles outside the tubes and 30.2 for the cobalt particles inside the tube. The optimized catalyst studied was the CoRuK/CNT catalyst. The best kinetic model to describe the CoRuK/CNT catalyst is: 18.5 x 10 ^-5 PH2^0.39/ (1 + 7.2 10 ^-2 PCO^0.72 PH2^0.1)^2.

Texte remanié de: Dissertation--Fachbereich Geschichts- und Kulturwissenschaften--Berlin--Freie Universität, 2004. / Bibliogr. p. 345-399.

Zugl.: Clausthal, Techn. Univ., Diss., 2009

The shock tube was used to investigate the product spectrum of the initial stages of the Fischer-Tropsch synthesis carried out at elevated temperatures. Special attention was paid to the relationship between methane selectivity and temperature. The range of reaction environments studied are summarised below:- Reaction temperature 780 K - 1425 K. Reaction pressure 160 psia - 330 psia. Mean reaction time 628 u sec. - 727 u sec. Test gas composition - argon 81 - 87 mol. %. - hydrogen 6,5 - 9 mol. %. - carbon monoxide 6,5 - 9,5 mol.%. Catalyst type - fused iron, triply promoted. Catalyst loading - 0,12 - 0,14 mass catalyst / mass gas. The experiments were conducted in the incident shock region and quenching was achieved by the reflected rarefaction wave. Percentage conversion of hydrogen and carbon monoxide to useful products (hydrocarbons) varied between 0,1 and 2. Products detected in measurable quantities were methane, ethylene, ethane and propylene. The theory of shock tube wave propagations through heterogeneous medi a was studied in detail and unique theory developed for handling conditions of varying temperature and pressure. This enabled characterisation of the reaction environment so that multilinear regression could be used to find a correlation between H2 + CO consumption and system variables. Major information gleaned on the initial stages of the Fischer-Tropsch synthesis at elevated temperatures was; (i) contrary to observed trends under normal synthesis conditions, methane selectivity decreased and propylene selectivity increased with increasing temperature; (ii) the process appeared to be hydrogen adsorption, pate controlled; (iii ) molecular degradation processes played a negligible part in the format ion of final reaction products, and (iv) oxygen compounds, such as methanol, did not appear to be important intermediate products. It has been shown that the heterogeneous shock tube offers a possible means of obtaining initial reaction rate data for highly complex systems. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Natal, 1973.

No description available.

Higher alcohols synthesized via CO hydrogenation reactions have been a topic of intense study both in industry and academia for over thirty years. A variety of transition metals and promoters have been used in catalysts for this reaction. MoS₂, in particular, is popular due to its low cost, resistance to sulfur poisoning, and ability to selectively produce higher alcohols over hydrocarbons. The bulk material has a rich history in hydrodesulfurization reactions (HDS), and as such, a great deal is known about the material's structure and reactivity. However, even with this deep body of knowledge about the bulk catalyst, no one has yet been able to implement an industrially viable variation of the catalyst to make higher alcohols. Supported MoS₂ has also been studied for the same purpose. Generally, supports are employed to improve catalyst productivity per gram of Mo by dispersing the metal and increasing the amount of catalytically active surface area. However, product selectivity may also be influenced by chemical properties of the supports. Specifically, gamma alumina has been shown to raise hydrocarbon formation due to intrinsic surface acidity. The effects of basic supports are reported on the CO hydrogenation reaction are reported. K promoted Mo is supported on two basic materials - commercial sepiolite (Si₁₂Mg₈O₃₀(OH)₄) and hydrotalcite-derived Mg/Al mixed metal oxides (MMO). The catalysts are reacted with syngas, and the resultant product selectivities are compared at isoconversions. Activated carbon supported Mo and bulk MoS₂ are also used as controls. It is shown that MMO provides a unique promotional effect by suppressing methanol formation and favoring higher alcohols. The specific role of MMO in the reaction is investigated by combining it in three different ways with Mo. 1) MMO is impregnated with Mo in the classic fashion. 2) Bare MMO or MMO/K is placed as a secondary bed downstream of the principle catalyst (K promoted Mo supported on MMO). 3) Bare MMO or MMO/K is mixed with the principle catalyst to make a homogeneous bed. It is shown that MMO by itself is somewhat inert in the reaction while MMO/K has some higher alcohol forming activity. More importantly however, it is shown that the MMO:Mo ratio has far greater effects on selectivity than the morphology of MoS₂. There is evidence however that MoS₂ morphology can affect activity. It is hypothesized that a greater degree of stacking in MoS₂ domains leads to reduced activity. The existence of coupling and homologation pathways are investigated by feeding methanol or ethanol into the syngas as it enters the catalyst bed. By comparing changes in the productivity of different higher alcohols with the liquid feed, it is shown that an MMO supported catalyst is much more reactive with methanol and somewhat more reactive with ethanol than its bulk MoS₂ counterpart. It is shown that for both the bulk and supported catalysts, the addition of a Cx alcohol results in the largest increase in Cx+1 products, suggesting that alcohol homologation is in fact the most favored route to higher alcohols by these materials.