447
3.2.2 Case Study 2: Catalyst Screening for FT Synthesis in 3D Printed
SS Microreactor Using Mesoporous Support
One of the problems with Si-microreactors is that it breaks easily and also there is a
problem to seal the microreactor with glass to create a leak-proof reaction environment. Also, as indicated in Table 6, the surface areas of sol-gel-coated catalysts are
much smaller than the mesoporous supports for heterogeneous catalysts [47, 48]. It
was also observed that intended metal wt% did not match with actual metal loadings. To address these problems, mesoporous supports synthesized by one-pot
hydrothermal method with very high surface area were used to screen catalysts for
FT synthesis in 316 stainless steel (SS) microreactors.
This case study gives a comprehensive understanding of various catalysts functionalized on different types of mesoporous support and the FT studies were carried
out in a 3D printed stainless steel microreactor. The kinetics of the catalytic reactions were also investigated. Figure 12 shows the schematic FT process conducted
in a microreactor.
Sub-case-1: Cobalt-Based Bimetallic Silica Mesoporous Catalyst for FT
Synthesis in 3D Printed Microreactor
Mohammad et al. [45] studied the effect of 5% by weight of Co, Fe, Ru, and Ni
incorporated into 10%Co-MCM-41catalyst, which were synthesized using a onepot hydrothermal process. These powdered catalysts were uniformly coated into the
reactor channels using 4% by weight of PVA slurry. The SEM image in Fig. 13
shows the coated microchannels in SS microreactor. The FT experiments were carried out at temperatures between 180 and 325 °C using a syngas molar ratio (H 2 :CO)
of 3. Results indicated that the inclusion of the second metal into the Co-MCM-41
framework had a significant effect on the CO conversion, C 1 -C 4 selectivity toward
and the catalyst stability in FT synthesis. The metal loadings calculated by EDX,
BET surface area, conversion and selectivity of these catalysts are presented in
Table 7.
Fig. 12 Schematic FT synthesis in 3D printed stainless steel microreactors
Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis in Silicon and 3D Printed Stainless Steel Microchannel…
3.2.2 Case Study 2: Catalyst Screening for FT Synthesis in 3D Printed
SS Microreactor Using Mesoporous Support
One of the problems with Si-microreactors is that it breaks easily and also there is a
problem to seal the microreactor with glass to create a leak-proof reaction environment. Also, as indicated in Table 6, the surface areas of sol-gel-coated catalysts are
much smaller than the mesoporous supports for heterogeneous catalysts [47, 48]. It
was also observed that intended metal wt% did not match with actual metal loadings. To address these problems, mesoporous supports synthesized by one-pot
hydrothermal method with very high surface area were used to screen catalysts for
FT synthesis in 316 stainless steel (SS) microreactors.
This case study gives a comprehensive understanding of various catalysts functionalized on different types of mesoporous support and the FT studies were carried
out in a 3D printed stainless steel microreactor. The kinetics of the catalytic reactions were also investigated. Figure 12 shows the schematic FT process conducted
in a microreactor.
Sub-case-1: Cobalt-Based Bimetallic Silica Mesoporous Catalyst for FT
Synthesis in 3D Printed Microreactor
Mohammad et al. [45] studied the effect of 5% by weight of Co, Fe, Ru, and Ni
incorporated into 10%Co-MCM-41catalyst, which were synthesized using a onepot hydrothermal process. These powdered catalysts were uniformly coated into the
reactor channels using 4% by weight of PVA slurry. The SEM image in Fig. 13
shows the coated microchannels in SS microreactor. The FT experiments were carried out at temperatures between 180 and 325 °C using a syngas molar ratio (H 2 :CO)
of 3. Results indicated that the inclusion of the second metal into the Co-MCM-41
framework had a significant effect on the CO conversion, C 1 -C 4 selectivity toward
and the catalyst stability in FT synthesis. The metal loadings calculated by EDX,
BET surface area, conversion and selectivity of these catalysts are presented in
Table 7.
Fig. 12 Schematic FT synthesis in 3D printed stainless steel microreactors
Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis in Silicon and 3D Printed Stainless Steel Microchannel…