Fischer Tropsch Synthesis: A Comparison of Iron and Cobalt Catalysts

Following WW II, it appeared that there would be a severe shortage of crude oil so that U.S. organizations initiated work on Fischer-Tropsch synthesis (FTS). Over a ten year period, the U.S. Bureau of Mines was budgeted $85 million for work on direct and indirect coal liquefaction. These funds would represent more than a billion dollars in today’s marketplace. A large (75 bbl/day) FTS pilot plant was built at Louisiana, MO but its operation was terminated after a few runs because the Middle-East oil reserves were recognized to be so large that conversion of coal to liquids would not be needed immediately. During the same time period, HRI led the effort to build a FTS plant in Brownsville, Texas that would be based on cheap natural gas and that used a fixed-fluid bed reactor and an iron catalyst. The operation was plagued with start-up problems and just about the time these were solved the price of natural gas significantly increased so the FTS activity was terminated.