Potassium-Promoted Carbon-Based Iron Catalyst for Ammonia Synthesis. Effect of Fe Dispersion

Potassium-promoted iron catalysts supported on thermally modified, partly graphitized carbon were studied in the ammonia synthesis reaction. Iron nitrate was used as a precursor of the active phase and KOH or KNO3 were used as promoters. The kinetic studies of NH3 synthesis were carried out in a differential reactor under 63 bar and 90 bar pressure. Hydrogen chemisorption, X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy experiments were performed to determine the dispersion of iron in the specimens. All the K+–Fe/C catalysts proved to be sensitive to ammonia, the NH3 partial pressure dependencies of their reaction rates being close to that of the commercial magnetite catalyst (KM I, H. Topsoe). The catalytic properties of the promoted Fe particles on carbon were shown to be dependent upon the iron dispersion, i.e. smaller particles exhibited higher turnover frequency in NH3 synthesis. It is suggested that either small Fe crystallites expose more highly active sites, e.g. C-7 (B-5) or the promotion of small crystallites by the alkali is more efficient.