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1. A method of producing a modified aluminium oxide supported catalyst, the method comprising the steps of: forming a slurry by mixing aluminium oxide, a 2-valent metal compound capable of forming a spinel phase, and a soluble compound of trivalent aluminium;shaping a solid material from the slurry into a solid precursor material;calcining the precursor material at a temperature in the range of 700° C. to 1300° C. to produce a modified aluminium oxide support material including a metal aluminate spinel phase compound formed by the metal capable of formin...
1. A method of producing a modified aluminium oxide supported catalyst, the method comprising the steps of: forming a slurry by mixing aluminium oxide, a 2-valent metal compound capable of forming a spinel phase, and a soluble compound of trivalent aluminium;shaping a solid material from the slurry into a solid precursor material;calcining the precursor material at a temperature in the range of 700° C. to 1300° C. to produce a modified aluminium oxide support material including a metal aluminate spinel phase compound formed by the metal capable of forming a spinel phase and the aluminium oxide;impregnating the modified aluminium oxide support material with a source of cobalt to form an impregnated modified aluminium oxide support material; andcalcining the impregnated modified aluminium oxide support material at a temperature of at least 150° C. to produce the modified aluminium oxide supported catalyst. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the aluminium oxide is selected from the group consisting of gamma alumina, delta alumina, theta alumina, eta alumina, rho alumina, and mixtures thereof. 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the aluminium oxide predominantly comprises gamma alumina. 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the gamma alumina is prepared by heating boehmite alumina at a temperature sufficient to convert boehmite alumina to gamma alumina. 5. The method of claim 4, wherein the boehmite alumina is heated to a temperature in the range of 400° C. to 700° C. 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the spinel forming metal compound is selected from compounds of cobalt, zinc, copper, magnesium, calcium, manganese, nickel, iron, and mixtures thereof. 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the spinel forming metal compound is a soluble metal salt selected from the group consisting of zinc nitrate, nickel nitrate, and magnesium nitrate. 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the amount of spinel forming metal compound added is in the range of 1 to 50 wt %, expressed as the wt % of the spinel forming metal based on the total weight of modified support. 9. The method of claim 1, wherein the soluble compound of trivalent aluminium is selected from the group consisting of aluminium nitrate, aluminium chlorohydrol, aluminium sulphate, aluminium chloride, aluminium acetate, aluminium formate, and mixtures thereof. 10. The method of claim 1, wherein mixing the slurry reduces the particle size of solids in the mixture to a median particle size that is less than ten microns. 11. The method of claim 10, wherein the mixing is without significant gelling. 12. The method of claim 10, wherein the mixing is conducted in a mill. 13. The method of claim 10, wherein the mixing reduces the particle size of solids in the mixture to a median particle size in the range of 1 to 5 microns. 14. The method of claim 1, wherein the shaping step comprises drying the said material at a temperature in the range of 100 to 400° C. to form particles having a median particle size in the range of 20 to 100 microns. 15. The method of claim 14, wherein the drying is carried out in a spray drier. 16. The method of claim 1, wherein the forming step is selected from the group consisting of spray-drying, peletization and extrusion. 17. The method of claim 1, further comprising washing the solid material before the shaping step. 18. The method of claim 17, wherein the washing step is performed with water containing less than 300 ppm calcium and/or less than 300 ppm sodium. 19. The method of claim 1, wherein the calcining the precursor material step is carried out at a temperature in the range of 700 to 1050° C. 20. The method of claim 19, wherein product from the calcining the precursor material step, further comprises alpha alumina. 21. The method of claim 1, wherein the calcining the precursor material step is carried out in several calcination steps, each of which covers a part of the temperature range up to the maximum temperature. 22. The method of claim 1, wherein the modified aluminium oxide support is produced by: combining aluminium oxide selected from the group consisting of gamma alumina, delta alumina, theta alumina, eta alumina, rho alumina and mixtures thereof, a 2-valent soluble compound of spinel forming metal or mixture of metals, and a soluble compound of trivalent aluminium selected from the group consisting of aluminium nitrate, aluminium chlorohydol, aluminium sulphate, aluminium chloride and mixtures thereof; reducing the particle size of the solids in the mixture to a median particle size of less than ten microns; drying the mixture at a temperature in the range of 100 to 400° C.; and calcining the dried mixture at a temperature in the range of 700 to 1300° C. 23. The method of claim 22, wherein the particle size of solids in the mixture is reduced to a median particle size in the range of 1 to 5 microns, the mixture is dried at a temperature in the range of 100 to 400° C., and the dried mixture is calcined at a temperature in the range of 700 to 1050° C. 24. The method of claim 23, wherein the aluminium oxide is gamma alumina, the compound of spinel forming metal is a metal nitrate salt and the trivalent aluminium is aluminium nitrate. 25. The method of claim 24, further comprising drying the mixture at a temperature in the range of 100 to 400° C. to form particles having a median particle size in the range of 20 to 100 microns prior to the step of calcining the precursor material. 26. The method of claim 1, wherein the support material is porous, the porous support material is modified by treatment with a divalent metal, the source of catalytically active metal is cobalt, and prior to the cobalt impregnation step, the modified support material has a specific surface area in the range of 30 to 80 m2/g. 27. The method of claim 26, wherein the porous support material is modified by treatment with a divalent metal and prior to the cobalt impregnation step, the modified support material has a pore volume below 0.5 ml/g. 28. The method of claim 1, wherein the impregnation step comprises an incipient wetness treatment wherein an aqueous solution of the catalytically active metal is mixed with the modified support material until the pores are filled and the impregnated modified support material is then dried, prior to the step of calcining the impregnated modified aluminium oxide support material. 29. The method of claim 28, wherein the amount of aqueous solution used in the impregnation is 0.05 to 2 times larger than the measured pore volume of the catalyst support. 30. The method of claim 29, wherein the drying is carried out at 80 to 120° C. 31. The method of claim 1, wherein the source of cobalt is selected from the group consisting of cobalt nitrate (Co(NO3)2), cobalt acetate(s), cobalt halide(s), cobalt (hexa)amine salt(s) and organic cobalt compounds. 32. The method of claim 31, wherein after the impregnation step, the cobalt content of the impregnated modified support material is in the range of 3 to 60 wt %, measured as the metal weight of the total catalyst after reduction. 33. The method of claim 1, wherein the impregnated modified support material is calcined at a temperature of up to 600° C. in the step of calcining the impregnated modified aluminium oxide support material. 34. The method of claim 1, further comprising activating the supported catalyst material after the step of calcining the impregnated modified aluminium oxide support material. 35. The method of claim 34, wherein the activation step comprises reduction of a substantial portion of the catalytically active metal compound present to the metal. 36. The method of claim 35, wherein the reduction is carried out by treating the catalyst material with a reducing gas. 37. The method of claim 36, wherein the reducing gas is selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, carbon monoxide and a mixture thereof. 38. The method of claim 35, wherein the reduction is carried out at an activation temperature in the range 20 to 500° C. 39. The method of claim 1, wherein prior to the impregnation step, the modified support has an ASTM attrition value of less than 5%. 40. A catalyst material produced by the method of claim 1, wherein the catalyst material comprises a support derived from aluminium oxide in the presence of a soluble compound of trivalent aluminium, the aluminium oxide being modified by the presence of a spinel phase formed from the aluminium oxide and spinel-forming 2-valent metal, and impregnated with a source of cobalt. 41. The catalyst of claim 40, wherein the spinel phase is substantially homogeneously distributed throughout the aluminium oxide and the cobalt is absorbed or adsorbed on to the surface of the modified support. 42. The catalyst of claim 40, wherein the spinel forming 2-valent metal is nickel. 43. The catalyst of claim 40, wherein the cobalt content of the catalyst is from 8 to 18% by weight. 44. The catalyst of claim 40, wherein the catalyst material comprises less than 3% by weight of a promoter. 45. The catalyst of claim 44, wherein the promoter is selected from rhenium and platinum. 46. A method for the production of hydrocarbons, comprising: forming a slurry by mixing aluminium oxide, a 2-valent metal compound capable of forming a spinel phase, and a soluble compound of trivalent aluminium;shaping a solid material from the slurry into a solid precursor material;calcining the precursor material at a temperature in the range of 700° C. to 1300° C. to produce a modified aluminium oxide support material including a metal aluminate spinel phase compound formed by the metal capable of forming a spinel phase and the aluminium oxide;impregnating the modified aluminium oxide support material with a source of cobalt to produce an impregnated modified aluminium oxide support material;calcining the impregnated modified aluminium oxide support material at a temperature of at least 150° C. to produce the modified aluminium oxide supported catalyst; andsubjecting H2 and CO gases to a Fischer-Tropsch synthesis reaction in a reactor in the presence of the modified aluminium oxide supported catalyst. 47. The method of claim 46, wherein the reactor is a three-phase reactor in which the reactants are gaseous, the product is at least partially liquid and the modified aluminium oxide supported catalyst is solid. 48. The method of claim 47, wherein the reaction is carried out in a slurry bubble column reactor. 49. The method of claim 48, wherein the H2 and CO are supplied to a slurry in the reactor, the slurry comprising the catalyst in suspension in a liquid including the reaction products of the H2 and CO, the catalyst being maintained in suspension in the slurry at least partly by the motion of the gas supplied to the slurry. 50. The method of claim 49, wherein the reaction temperature is in the range 190-280° C. 51. The method of claim 50, wherein the reaction temperature is in the range 210-250° C. 52. The method of claim 51, wherein the reaction pressure is in the range 10 to 60 bar. 53. The method of claim 52, wherein the reaction pressure is in the range 15 to 35 bar. 54. The method of claim 49, wherein a H2/CO ratio of the gases supplied to the Fischer-Tropsch synthesis reactor is in the range 1.1 to 2.2. 55. The method of claim 54, wherein the H2/CO ratio is in the range 1.5 to 1.95. 56. The method of claim 49, wherein a superficial gas velocity in the reactor is in the range 5 to 60 cm/s. 57. The method of claim 56, wherein the superficial gas velocity is in the range 20 to 40 cm/s. 58. The method of claim 49, further comprising subjecting the product of the Fischer-Tropsch synthesis reaction to post-processing. 59. The method of claim 58, wherein the post-processing is selected from de-waxing, hydro-isomerization, hydro-cracking, and combinations thereof. 60. A method of producing a modified aluminium oxide supported catalyst, the method comprising the steps of: forming a slurry by mixing aluminium oxide, a metal compound capable of forming a spinel phase, and a soluble compound of trivalent aluminium, wherein solids within the slurry have a mean particle size that is less than ten microns;shaping a solid material from the slurry into a solid precursor material;calcining the precursor material at a temperature of at least 700° C. to produce a modified aluminium oxide support material including a metal aluminate spinel phase compound formed by the metal capable of forming a spinel phase and the aluminium oxide;impregnating the modified aluminium oxide support material with a source of catalytically active metal to form an impregnated modified aluminium oxide support material; andcalcining the impregnated modified aluminium oxide support material at a temperature of at least 150° C. to produce the modified aluminium oxide supported catalyst. 61. A method of producing a modified aluminium oxide supported catalyst, the method comprising the steps of: forming a slurry by mixing aluminium oxide, a 2-valent soluble compound of spinel forming metal or mixture of metals capable of forming a spinel phase, and a soluble compound of trivalent aluminum such that a median particle size of solids within the slurry is less than ten microns, wherein the aluminum oxide is selected from the group consisting of gamma alumina, delta alumina, theta alumina, eta alumina, rho alumina and mixtures thereof and wherein the soluble compound of trivalent aluminium is selected from the group consisting of aluminium nitrate, aluminium chlorohydol, aluminium sulphate, aluminium chloride and mixtures thereof;drying the slurry at a temperature in the range of 100° C. to 400° C.;shaping a solid material from the slurry into a solid precursor material;calcining the precursor material at a temperature in the range of 700° C. to 1300° C. to produce a modified aluminium oxide support material including a metal aluminate spinel phase compound formed by the metal capable of forming a spinel phase and the aluminium oxide;impregnating the modified aluminium oxide support material with a source of catalytically active metal to form an impregnated modified aluminium oxide support material; andcalcining the impregnated modified aluminium oxide support material at a temperature of at least 150° C. to produce the modified aluminium oxide supported catalyst.