World Catalyst Market Series——Three of the 8 Catalysts That Are Changing the World: Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis Catalysts

Fischer-Tropsch synthesis. In the field of coal chemical engineering over the past few years, this concept has been everywhere; it’s constantly mentioned. These two individuals are Fischer and Tropsch, and their names were combined to form Fischer-Tropsch – like legends in this field.

Fischer-Tropsch synthesis catalysts: At the beginning of the 20th century, with the development of the automobile and aviation industries, there was a sharp increase in the demand for liquid fuels, and countries around the world invested heavily in finding ways to produce such fuels more efficiently and at lower costs. The Fertő process was invented against this backdrop; it is a process that uses syngas (a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen) as raw material to synthesize liquid hydrocarbons or hydrocarbon compounds under the action of catalysts and appropriate conditions. This process was first discovered in 1923 by German scientists Ficher and Tropch; after 13 years of thorough research, it was not until 1936 that industrial production of it began in Germany. Initially, the catalysts used by Ficher and Tropch were Co-Tu-diatomite catalysts; later on, various supported catalysts such as molten iron, Co, and ruthenium were gradually employed, resulting in better catalytic performance. Before the development of the petrochemical industry, the Fert process could be considered the most important technology in both the chemical industry and the transportation sector. Currently, F-T synthesis is increasingly characterized by higher temperatures, larger scale, and a greater variety of products. Currently, the most advanced high-temperature Fischer-Tropsch synthesis units not only produce high-quality oils but also over twenty to thirty types of high-value chemical products, thereby extending the coal chemical industry chain and increasing the variety of downstream products.