Optimization of reaction parameters of Fischer-Tropsch synthesis in the presence of Co-V/Al2O3 nano-catalyst

Nano-catalyst of cobalt-vanadate (Co-V/Al2O3, supported on alumina) application in Fischer-Tropsch process (FT) was explored in a various conversions of synthesis gas. The catalyst characterization was performed using different methods including Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area, X-ray fluorescence (XRF), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Temperature programmed reduction (TPR) profile, and Transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Due to the extreme complexity and nonlinearity of catalytic processes, adaptive network based fuzzy interface system (ANFIS) was developed as a predictive tool for evaluation of Co-V/Al2O3 nano-catalyst performance in FT process. Input vector included reaction condition such as, pressure, temperature, time, and CO/H-2 ratio of different experiments while the outputs were composition of CO, CO2, and CH4. The proposed model was used for optimization of the process, also the optimal operating conditions were acquired using particle swarm optimization (PSO). The performance of the algorithms and the quality of the solutions were measured by introducing the optimal operating conditions to obtained model. Comparative studies and results analysis were then conducted on the optimization results. The model result shows a good consistency with experimental observations.