(33b) Diesel Length Aldehydes From Iron-Based Fischer Tropsch Synthesis

Carrying out Fischer Tropsch Synthesis on an iron catalyst promoted with zinc, copper, and potassium under supercritical conditions resulted in a significant selectivity to diesel-length aldehydes. Performing the reaction under traditional gas phase and slurry phase conditions gave a similar overall product distribution, but did not give detectable quantities of these aldehydes. Additionally, studies in which the residence time was varied indicated that aldehydes are primary products that are, through secondary reactions, converted to olefins. Paraffins also are primary products, with the supercritical media effectively supressing their formation from olefins. These results carry implications for the steps through which the different types of product are formed and the mechanism of chain propagation.