Removal of carbon deposits on χ-Fe5C2 Fischer–Tropsch catalysts

Shiyue Li; Robert Pestman; Achim Iulian Dugulan; Zhuowu Men; Peng Wang; Emiel J.M. Hensen

doi:10.1016/j.jcat.2025.116030

Removal of carbon deposits on χ-Fe5C2 Fischer–Tropsch catalysts

Shiyue Li
, Robert Pestman
, Achim Iulian Dugulan
, Zhuowu Men
, Peng Wang (Corresponding author)
, Emiel J.M. Hensen (Corresponding author)

EIRES Research

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)

129 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

The removal of carbon deposits from carburized Fe-based Fischer–Tropsch catalysts is a critical aspect of their performance. In this study, a method is presented to remove carbon deposits from freshly prepared χ-Fe5C2. The method involves successive passivation and reduction steps, which do not affect the bulk structure of the χ-Fe5C2 catalyst. The passivation step transforms the carbonaceous deposits from a graphitic structure to a disordered oxygen-functionalized structure, facilitating its removal by a reduction step in hydrogen. This results in a higher initial activity of the catalyst and substantially shortens the induction period observed without such pretreatment. The findings underscore the possibility of improving catalytic performance of Fe-carbides by changing the structure and reactivity of carbonaceous deposits.

Original language	English
Article number	116030
Number of pages	10
Journal	Journal of Catalysis
Volume	445
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcat.2025.116030
Publication status	Published - May 2025

Funding

Shiyue Li acknowledges the financial support from the China Scholarship Council. This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (No. 2022YFB4101400) and CHN Energy Science and Technology innovation project (No. GJPT-23-18). We acknowledge Dr. Emiliano Fonda, Guillaume Alizon, Dr. Hao Zhang, Dr. Liang Liu, and Yonghui Fan for the assistance in using and operating the SAMBA beamline at SOLEIL Synchrotron under proposal No. 20220306.

Keywords

Fischer–Tropsch synthesis
Carbon removal
Induction period
Regeneration
Iron carbide

Access to Document

10.1016/j.jcat.2025.116030

pdfFinal published version, 6.52 MBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

@article{76ae1ecd5b554045bb1f0fdbd28d0ced,

title = "Removal of carbon deposits on χ-Fe5C2 Fischer–Tropsch catalysts",

abstract = "The removal of carbon deposits from carburized Fe-based Fischer–Tropsch catalysts is a critical aspect of their performance. In this study, a method is presented to remove carbon deposits from freshly prepared χ-Fe5C2. The method involves successive passivation and reduction steps, which do not affect the bulk structure of the χ-Fe5C2 catalyst. The passivation step transforms the carbonaceous deposits from a graphitic structure to a disordered oxygen-functionalized structure, facilitating its removal by a reduction step in hydrogen. This results in a higher initial activity of the catalyst and substantially shortens the induction period observed without such pretreatment. The findings underscore the possibility of improving catalytic performance of Fe-carbides by changing the structure and reactivity of carbonaceous deposits.",

keywords = "Fischer–Tropsch synthesis, Carbon removal, Induction period, Regeneration, Iron carbide",

author = "Shiyue Li and Robert Pestman and Dugulan, \{Achim Iulian\} and Zhuowu Men and Peng Wang and Hensen, \{Emiel J.M.\}",

year = "2025",

month = may,

doi = "10.1016/j.jcat.2025.116030",

language = "English",

volume = "445",

journal = "Journal of Catalysis",

issn = "0021-9517",

publisher = "Academic Press Inc.",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Removal of carbon deposits on χ-Fe5C2 Fischer–Tropsch catalysts

AU - Li, Shiyue

AU - Pestman, Robert

AU - Dugulan, Achim Iulian

AU - Men, Zhuowu

AU - Wang, Peng

AU - Hensen, Emiel J.M.

PY - 2025/5

Y1 - 2025/5

N2 - The removal of carbon deposits from carburized Fe-based Fischer–Tropsch catalysts is a critical aspect of their performance. In this study, a method is presented to remove carbon deposits from freshly prepared χ-Fe5C2. The method involves successive passivation and reduction steps, which do not affect the bulk structure of the χ-Fe5C2 catalyst. The passivation step transforms the carbonaceous deposits from a graphitic structure to a disordered oxygen-functionalized structure, facilitating its removal by a reduction step in hydrogen. This results in a higher initial activity of the catalyst and substantially shortens the induction period observed without such pretreatment. The findings underscore the possibility of improving catalytic performance of Fe-carbides by changing the structure and reactivity of carbonaceous deposits.

AB - The removal of carbon deposits from carburized Fe-based Fischer–Tropsch catalysts is a critical aspect of their performance. In this study, a method is presented to remove carbon deposits from freshly prepared χ-Fe5C2. The method involves successive passivation and reduction steps, which do not affect the bulk structure of the χ-Fe5C2 catalyst. The passivation step transforms the carbonaceous deposits from a graphitic structure to a disordered oxygen-functionalized structure, facilitating its removal by a reduction step in hydrogen. This results in a higher initial activity of the catalyst and substantially shortens the induction period observed without such pretreatment. The findings underscore the possibility of improving catalytic performance of Fe-carbides by changing the structure and reactivity of carbonaceous deposits.

KW - Fischer–Tropsch synthesis

KW - Carbon removal

KW - Induction period

KW - Regeneration

KW - Iron carbide

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85218870327

U2 - 10.1016/j.jcat.2025.116030

DO - 10.1016/j.jcat.2025.116030

M3 - Article

SN - 0021-9517

VL - 445

JO - Journal of Catalysis

JF - Journal of Catalysis

M1 - 116030

ER -

Removal of carbon deposits on χ-Fe5C2 Fischer–Tropsch catalysts

Abstract

Funding

Keywords

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this