Co/SiO2 sol–gel catalysts for Fischer–Tropsch synthesis

Six catalysts with a different cobalt content were prepared following the sol–gel method. The samples were tested by the Fischer– Tropsch synthesis performed both at low and high temperature and pressure. All the catalytic performances are well correlated with the characterization results which highlighted the good metal distribution and the presence of a large amount of metallic cobalt (but not the whole) on the surface of both 10 and 30% Co catalysts. As a result, high CO conversions were observed with a particular sensitivity to the reaction pressure and also the limitation of the produced hydrocarbons fraction to C6 or C9 at low or high pressure, respectively.