THE MODELING OF COBALT CATALYST DEACTIVATION IN THE FISHERTROPSCH SYNTHESIS PROCESS

Cobalt catalyst is one of the most important catalysts that used in the Fisher-Tropsch process. This paper is discussing the deactivating factors of cobalt catalyst. The most important factors can be noted to 4 factors of sintering, coke, poisoning and water. In this study, modeling was conducted in a fixed bed reactor and the corresponding equations were solved using Matlab software. The effect of the temperature and other factors such as the ratio of hydrogen to carbon monoxide was studied on the efficiency and percentage of conversion of components. Data regarding drop of the catalyst activity with time was fitted by a power model and then with respect to the achieved power was discussed about the mechanism of catalyst deactivation. According to the results, the water can be considered one of the most important factors of deactivation of the catalyst.