Synthesis and Characterization of Cobalt, Iron and Ruthenium Catalysts for the Production of Synthetic Diesel

Fossil fuels are currently the world's leading source of energy. Environmental legislations, the high price of fossil fuels, the concern about the supply of these fuels and technological development, makes it necessary to search for alternative sources of energy. The production of clean liquid fuels, such as synthetic diesel from synthesis gas, by Fischer-Tropsch (FT) method, is considered a very appropriate strategy for the solution of some of the inconveniences shown by fossil fuels. This method consists in the catalytic transformation of a gaseous mixture of CO and H₂ into liquid fuels with variable chain lengths. The fuels produced by this process are clean, since they do not have aromatic compounds, sulphur or nitrogen-based compounds, preventing the production and release of NOx and SOx during combustion. FT processes involve the use of heterogeneous catalysts based on active metals (i.e., Co, Ru or Fe) highly dispersed on the surface of appropriate supports. In the present investigation, the synthesis of new catalysts has been carried out to produce synthetic diesel by means of FT processes. For this, spherical SiO₂ particles have been used as support, on which nanoparticles of the different metals have been dispersed. The activity and selectivity of the synthesized catalysts was evaluated in FT processes under different experimental conditions.