Coal fly ash-derived mesoporous SBA-15 as support material for production of liquid hydrocarbon through Fischer–Tropsch route

Abstract

The supernatant solution of silicate species extracted from coal fly ash (CFA) by NaOH fusion is used under acidic conditions with surfactant pluronic P-123 to prepare the mesoporous silica (SBA-15). Structural properties of prepared SBA-15 are found close to those prepared by pure chemicals. Furthermore, the synthesized mesoporous silica (SBA-15) from CFA is used as support in Fischer–Tropsch synthesis (FTS). The obtained mesoporous material has a surface area of 643 m2/g and a pore size of 8.24 nm. Co–Fe bimetallic catalyst containing 15 wt% of cobalt and 5 wt% of iron is prepared by incipient wetness impregnation of cobalt nitrate and iron nitrate salts over CFA-derived SBA-15. These mesoporous support and catalyst are characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), N2 adsorption–desorption, H2-temperature-programmed reduction (TPR), NH3-temperature-programmed desorption (TPD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). FTS experiment is showing 65.53% of C5+ selectivity. The results indicate that the nanosubstrate material derived from CFA may be used as support for FTS activity with further improvements. © 2020 Curtin University and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.