Sintering of supported cobalt catalysts is an important deactivation mechanism at play during realistic Fischer-Tropsch synthesis conditions. The traditional ways of studying the mechanism of sintering by looking at cobalt particle size distributions derived from transmission electron microscope images on porous supported catalysts, does have its drawbacks. In this mini-review, we show collaborative work between Sasol and its academic partners at the University of Cape Town and Eindhoven University of Technology, in which a two-pronged approach was used to study the topic of sintering. This included the use of model systems (model catalysts and theory) as well as in-situ monitoring of real (industrial) systems for understanding this practical problem in industry. We also show with new data, that the understanding generated, can be used in the mitigation of sintering by using either process conditions, catalyst design or catalyst regeneration.

在实际的费-托合成条件下，负载型钴催化剂的烧结是一种重要的失活机理。通过观察由多孔载体催化剂上的透射电子显微镜图像得出的钴粒度分布来研究烧结机理的传统方法确实存在其缺点。在这份小型回顾中，我们展示了Sasol及其在开普敦大学和艾恩德霍芬科技大学的学术合作伙伴之间的协作工作，其中采用了两管齐下的方法来研究烧结主题。这包括使用模型系统（模型催化剂和理论）以及原位监视实际（工业）系统以了解行业中的实际问题。我们还用新数据表明，通过使用工艺条件，催化剂设计或催化剂再生，可以将所产生的理解用于减轻烧结。