Synchrotron computed microtomography (Cmt) and micro x-ray fluorescence (ìXrf) as tools to map Fischer-Tropsch catalysts

Gas-to-liquids (GTL) is an attractive route to produce clean fuels from carbon feedstocks via the synthesis gas route. Technological advances in the Fischer-Tropsch (F-T) option to synthesize clean hydrocarbon fuels continue but a highly efficient process remains elusive. Heterogeneous catalyst assemblies undergo changes during the GTL conversion reaction and an in-depth characterization of these catalytic materials would help design the next-generation more efficient catalysts. The experimental set-up, collected data, and the potential of CMT and ?XRF techniques carried out at the National Synchrotron Light Source, Brookhaven National Laboratory for monitoring changes in the catalyst composition during F-T synthesis are presented. This is an abstract of a paper presented at the AIChE Spring National Meeting (Houston, TX 4/22-27/2007).