Liquid phase Fischer—Tropsch synthesis on ultrafine particles of iron: Effect of preoxidation treatment

Abstract The effect of the oxidative pretreatment of ultrafine particles (UFP) of iron on their catalytic properties in the liquid phase Fischer—Tropsch synthesis has been investigated. Although similar product distributions were obtained, whether preoxidized or not, the catalytic activities of the preoxidized catalysts, which were prepared by exposure of the iron UFP to an atmosphere of nitrogen containing the predetermined amounts of oxygen, were higher than that of the untreated iron UFP. The catalytic activity is discussed in relation to the sintering of the UFP catalyst under the reaction conditions used.