of sources, including coal, natural gas, municipal solid waste, and biomass. The FT process primarily yields long, linear paraffins, which are then upgraded through catalytic hydrocracking. This step breaks and rearranges the long chains into shorter, branched hydrocarbons suitable for use as diesel, kerosene, and other fuels.
n-Para ns
Coal, natural gas
Catalyst design and process optimisation
CO H
H O
CO → CO
Methane
‘e-fuels’
Support Cobalt
Water electrolysis (H O to H ) Biomass, biowaste, biogas (CO /CH )
Municipal solid waste
Synthetic biofuels
Wax from FT reaction (clean, high quality product)
Figure 1 Typical FT commercial processes use a syngas feed from bio or fossil fuels and convert it to FT product.
even achieving net-negative emissions when combined with renewable electricity and carbon sequestration ( Blanshard & Gibson, 2023 ). Although biomass gasification is well- established, it has traditionally been used for power generation rather than chemical synthesis. FT synthesis, however, demands a precise hydrogen-to-carbon monoxide (H₂-to-CO) ratio and is sensitive to impurities. Syngas derived from biomass and wastes often contains contaminants that must be removed to protect catalyst performance and ensure high-purity fuel output ( Partington, Clarkson, Paterson, Sullivan, & Wilson, 2020 ). As a global leader in syngas purification and treatment, JM offers advanced solutions to condition syngas from any feedstock, enabling efficient conversion of these feedstocks into synthetic fuels ( Rowsell, et al., 2024 ). The Fischer-Tropsch process: from carbon to clean fuels The FT process, developed in 1925 by Franz Fischer and Hans Tropsch, celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2025. In enabling the conversion of carbon-based feedstocks into liquid hydrocarbons via syngas, this process ( Equation 1 ) forms the basis for producing synthetic fuels:
As shown in Figure 1 , FT synthesis is a multi-step process that transforms bio- or fossil-derived syngas into high-quality fuel products. These synthetic fuels offer a promising route to decarbonise sectors like aviation and heavy transport. Catalysts and reactor technologies Catalysts are essential to make the FT process industrially viable. Two main types are used ( Basu, 2018 ) ( van der Laan & Beenackers, 1999 ): • Cobalt-based catalysts: Preferred for high activity, selectivity toward paraffins, and long-term stability, while making a high-purity product. • Iron-based catalysts: Less expensive and capable of handling syngas with higher CO₂ content, but they produce a broader mix of olefins and paraffins. From syngas, these catalysts also have some water gas shift (WGS) activity, which can limit process efficiency, while CO₂ conversion often gives higher selectivities to lower-value products, which can be economically limiting. FT synthesis typically operates at 200-240°C and 20-40 bar. The reaction is highly exothermic, so efficient heat management is critical to reactor design. Pore diffusion and mass-transfer effects play a key role in FT catalyst performance due to the need for H₂ and CO to move into and along the catalyst pores against the movement of long-chain hydrocarbon molecules going the other way.
[2H₂ + CO]n + H₂ CH₃(CH₂)n-2CH₃ + nH₂O (Eq 1)
Syngas, a mixture of hydrogen (H₂) and carbon monoxide (CO), can be derived from a variety
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