{"id":{"repo_id":"cape-town","oai_identifier":"oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/33736"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/cape-town/oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/33736","repository":{"repo_id":"cape-town","name":"University of Cape Town","base_url":"https://open.uct.ac.za/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Selective production of nitrogen-containing compounds via a modified Fischer-Tropsch process","abstract":"Research on the co-feeding of ammonia into the Fischer-Tropsch (FTS) process over ironbased catalysts revealed that the presence of ammonia during the FTS leads to the formation of nitrogen-containing compounds (NCCs). Recent studies on the addition of ammonia to the FTS process, now known as the Nitrogen Fischer-Tropsch (NFTS) process, reported that the production of NCCs during the NFTS process is enhanced by the presence of oxygenates. The studies, therefore, suggested that oxygenates are the primary precursors of NCCs. However, due to the gap in knowledge related to the NFTS reactions mechanisms, the validity of this assumption is still unknown. In this thesis, the aim was to investigate the correlation between the presence of oxygenates under the FTS conditions and the formation of NCCs under the NFTS conditions and check the suitability of various iron-based catalysts for the NFTS process. From literature, four ironbased catalysts, known for yielding a high percentage of oxygenates, were identified, synthesised, characterised and then tested under FTS conditions to determine the optimum reaction conditions for oxygenates formation. It was found that high oxygenates selectivity can be achieved at low temperature and high space velocity as at these operating conditions the occurrence of secondary reactions involving oxygenates are limited. Furthermore, the catalysts were tested under NFTS conditions to determine their catalytic performance and their selectivity towards NCCs. During the NFTS process, in addition to the decrease in the CO conversion, a significant drop in the oxygenates and CO2 selectivity followed by the formation of NCCs were observed. These results confirmed a sight activity inhibiting effect of ammonia and pointed out the correlation between the presence of oxygenates and the formation of NCCs under FTS and NFTS processes respectively. At the conditions applied, selectivities of up to 17.9 C% of NCCs (predominantly nitriles) could be obtained. This modified process may therefore be considered as an important variation of the FTS process with greatly enhanced chemicals production potential.","abstract_html":"Research on the co-feeding of ammonia into the Fischer-Tropsch (FTS) process over ironbased catalysts revealed that the presence of ammonia during the FTS leads to the formation of nitrogen-containing compounds (NCCs). Recent studies on the addition of ammonia to the FTS process, now known as the Nitrogen Fischer-Tropsch (NFTS) process, reported that the production of NCCs during the NFTS process is enhanced by the presence of oxygenates. The studies, therefore, suggested that oxygenates are the primary precursors of NCCs. However, due to the gap in knowledge related to the NFTS reactions mechanisms, the validity of this assumption is still unknown. In this thesis, the aim was to investigate the correlation between the presence of oxygenates under the FTS conditions and the formation of NCCs under the NFTS conditions and check the suitability of various iron-based catalysts for the NFTS process. From literature, four ironbased catalysts, known for yielding a high percentage of oxygenates, were identified, synthesised, characterised and then tested under FTS conditions to determine the optimum reaction conditions for oxygenates formation. It was found that high oxygenates selectivity can be achieved at low temperature and high space velocity as at these operating conditions the occurrence of secondary reactions involving oxygenates are limited. Furthermore, the catalysts were tested under NFTS conditions to determine their catalytic performance and their selectivity towards NCCs. During the NFTS process, in addition to the decrease in the CO conversion, a significant drop in the oxygenates and CO2 selectivity followed by the formation of NCCs were observed. These results confirmed a sight activity inhibiting effect of ammonia and pointed out the correlation between the presence of oxygenates and the formation of NCCs under FTS and NFTS processes respectively. At the conditions applied, selectivities of up to 17.9 C% of NCCs (predominantly nitriles) could be obtained. This modified process may therefore be considered as an important variation of the FTS process with greatly enhanced chemicals production potential.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Goho, Danielle Sympathie"],"institution":"Department of Chemical Engineering","degree_name":null,"degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Claeys, Michael","Fischer, Nico","Fadlalla, Mohamed"],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2021,"date_issued":"2021","date_published":"2021","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:23:18Z","subjects":["Fischer-Tropsch synthesis","Iron-based catalysts","Oxygenates","Nitrogencontaining compounds"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/11427/33736","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Claeys, Michael","Fischer, Nico","Fadlalla, Mohamed"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Goho, Danielle Sympathie"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2021-08-12T09:08:05Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2021-08-12T09:08:05Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2021"]},{"key":"dc:publisher.department","label":"Dc Publisher Department","values":["Department of Chemical Engineering"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Master Thesis"]},{"key":"dc:type.qualificationlevel","label":"Dc Type Qualificationlevel","values":["Masters","MSc"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Fischer-Tropsch synthesis","Iron-based catalysts","Oxygenates","Nitrogencontaining compounds"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/11427/33736"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Research on the co-feeding of ammonia into the Fischer-Tropsch (FTS) process over ironbased catalysts revealed that the presence of ammonia during the FTS leads to the formation of nitrogen-containing compounds (NCCs). Recent studies on the addition of ammonia to the FTS process, now known as the Nitrogen Fischer-Tropsch (NFTS) process, reported that the production of NCCs during the NFTS process is enhanced by the presence of oxygenates. The studies, therefore, suggested that oxygenates are the primary precursors of NCCs. However, due to the gap in knowledge related to the NFTS reactions mechanisms, the validity of this assumption is still unknown. In this thesis, the aim was to investigate the correlation between the presence of oxygenates under the FTS conditions and the formation of NCCs under the NFTS conditions and check the suitability of various iron-based catalysts for the NFTS process. From literature, four ironbased catalysts, known for yielding a high percentage of oxygenates, were identified, synthesised, characterised and then tested under FTS conditions to determine the optimum reaction conditions for oxygenates formation. It was found that high oxygenates selectivity can be achieved at low temperature and high space velocity as at these operating conditions the occurrence of secondary reactions involving oxygenates are limited. Furthermore, the catalysts were tested under NFTS conditions to determine their catalytic performance and their selectivity towards NCCs. During the NFTS process, in addition to the decrease in the CO conversion, a significant drop in the oxygenates and CO2 selectivity followed by the formation of NCCs were observed. These results confirmed a sight activity inhibiting effect of ammonia and pointed out the correlation between the presence of oxygenates and the formation of NCCs under FTS and NFTS processes respectively. At the conditions applied, selectivities of up to 17.9 C% of NCCs (predominantly nitriles) could be obtained. This modified process may therefore be considered as an important variation of the FTS process with greatly enhanced chemicals production potential."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Selective production of nitrogen-containing compounds via a modified Fischer-Tropsch process"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Claeys, Michael","Fischer, Nico","Fadlalla, Mohamed"],"dc:creator":["Goho, Danielle Sympathie"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2021-08-12T09:08:05Z"],"dc:date.available":["2021-08-12T09:08:05Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2021"],"dc:description.abstract":["Research on the co-feeding of ammonia into the Fischer-Tropsch (FTS) process over ironbased catalysts revealed that the presence of ammonia during the FTS leads to the formation of nitrogen-containing compounds (NCCs). Recent studies on the addition of ammonia to the FTS process, now known as the Nitrogen Fischer-Tropsch (NFTS) process, reported that the production of NCCs during the NFTS process is enhanced by the presence of oxygenates. The studies, therefore, suggested that oxygenates are the primary precursors of NCCs. However, due to the gap in knowledge related to the NFTS reactions mechanisms, the validity of this assumption is still unknown. In this thesis, the aim was to investigate the correlation between the presence of oxygenates under the FTS conditions and the formation of NCCs under the NFTS conditions and check the suitability of various iron-based catalysts for the NFTS process. From literature, four ironbased catalysts, known for yielding a high percentage of oxygenates, were identified, synthesised, characterised and then tested under FTS conditions to determine the optimum reaction conditions for oxygenates formation. It was found that high oxygenates selectivity can be achieved at low temperature and high space velocity as at these operating conditions the occurrence of secondary reactions involving oxygenates are limited. Furthermore, the catalysts were tested under NFTS conditions to determine their catalytic performance and their selectivity towards NCCs. During the NFTS process, in addition to the decrease in the CO conversion, a significant drop in the oxygenates and CO2 selectivity followed by the formation of NCCs were observed. These results confirmed a sight activity inhibiting effect of ammonia and pointed out the correlation between the presence of oxygenates and the formation of NCCs under FTS and NFTS processes respectively. At the conditions applied, selectivities of up to 17.9 C% of NCCs (predominantly nitriles) could be obtained. This modified process may therefore be considered as an important variation of the FTS process with greatly enhanced chemicals production potential."],"dc:identifier.uri":["http://hdl.handle.net/11427/33736"],"dc:publisher.department":["Department of Chemical Engineering"],"dc:subject":["Fischer-Tropsch synthesis","Iron-based catalysts","Oxygenates","Nitrogencontaining compounds"],"dc:title":["Selective production of nitrogen-containing compounds via a modified Fischer-Tropsch process"],"dc:type":["Master Thesis"],"dc:type.qualificationlevel":["Masters","MSc"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:23:18Z"}