Addition of acetylene to the fischer-tropsch reaction

Acetylene has been added to the Fischer-Tropsch (F-T) synthesis on cobalt and iron catalysts. The added acetylene initiates the F-T chain growth and is incorporated into the product only once. Acetylene incorporation is three times greater than that of 1-hexyne. With the addition of acetylene, the F-T product distribution follows Anderson-Schulz-Flory (ASF) distribution while the chain growth factor (alpha value) slightly decreases. Only C3 oxygenates are formed via hydroformylation on adding acetylene to cobalt. With iron, C3+ oxygenate production is enhanced and follows the ASF distribution. It is likely that both acetylene and ethylene addition to the synthesis involve the same intermediates but acetylene is more strongly adsorbed on the F-T catalyst, making it a more effective chain initiator at low temperatures.