1. Background

Statoil has been involved in Fischer-Tropsch based GTL technology development since the mid 1980's (Rytter et al.,1990). In order to maximize distillate production, a low temperature, cobalt catalyst based Fischer-Tropsch technology has been selected. A slurry bubble column reactor offers the best performance in terms of economy of scale, throughput and yield, but presents several technical challenges. A highly active and selective cobalt catalyst is needed and must be adapted to suit the requirements of the slurry reactor. Separation of wax from the slurry is another critical aspect of this technology. Statoil has developed a supported cobalt catalyst and a continuous filtration technique that forms the heart of the Fischer-Tropsch process.

The present paper will describe a number of issues related to optimization and quality assurance during scale-up and production of the Statoil Co/Re/alumina catalyst.

2. Basic Catalyst Technology and Considerations

The basic catalyst preparation method may consist of aqueous incipient wetness impregnation of a Co/Re solution on alumina giving a nominal (after reduction) composition in the range 12 30 wt% Co, 0,2 1,5 wt% Re and optional additional promoter(s) (Eri et al., 1987). Impregnation is followed by drying, calcination and reduction. In spite of this inherently simple procedure, a number of factors must be considered to obtain the optimal balance between:

• Catalyst cost, ref. recent years increase in Co price

• Activity pr. g catalyst and...