The present invention generally relates to a Fischer-Tropsch process, in particular a Fischer-Tropsch process for converting a feed comprising a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide gases, preferably in the form of a synthesis gas mixture, to hydrocarbons by contacting a cobalt-containing Fischer-Tropsch synthesis catalyst with a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide in a reactor at a pressure of 4.0 MPa absolute or greater, wherein the process is initiated by a start-up procedure comprising the steps of: i) providing a feed comprising a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide gases, preferably in the form of a synthesis gas mixture, to a reactor containing a cobalt-containing Fischer-Tropsch synthesis catalyst, wherein the pressure inside the reactor is 3.5 MPa absolute or below; and ii) maintaining the feed to the reactor, removing a product stream comprising hydrocarbons and maintaining the pressure inside the reactor at 3.5 MPa absolute or below for at least 15 hours, preferably for at least 50 hours.

Disclosed are heterostructured silica catalysts (modified Haider heterostructured silica) and methods of their use and preparation. The hetero structured silica catalysts include a transition metal, an alkaline earth metal oxide, and silica, wherein the transition metal, the alkaline earth metal from the metal oxide thereof, and silicon (Si) from silica are each present in the crystal lattice structure of the catalyst. The catalyst can have application in, e.g., the hydrogenation of carbon monoxide.

The present invention describes a process and catalysts for the conversion of a light hydrocarbon and carbon dioxide input stream into high quality syngas with the subsequent conversion of the syngas into fuels or chemicals. In one aspect, the present invention provides an efficient, solid solution catalyst for the production of a carbon containing gas from carbon dioxide and light hydrocarbons. The catalyst comprises a single transition metal, and the transition metal is nickel.

The disclosed invention relates to a method for restarting a synthesis gas conversion process which has stopped. The synthesis gas conversion process may be conducted in a conventional reactor or a microchannel reactor. The synthesis gas conversion process may comprise a process for converting synthesis gas to methane, methanol or dimethyl ether. The synthesis gas conversion process may be a Fischer-Tropsch process.

The present invention relates to methods for operating Fischer-Tropsch syntheses for the production of long-chain hydrocarbons and to plants for carrying out these processes, wherein the CO conversion is controlled and/or the catalyst deactivation is compensated.

Provided is a conversion process for an inferior oil, relating to the field of biomass utilization, energy and chemical industry. The conversion process is carried out in presence of a catalyst selected from the group consisting of an iron oxide compound, a desulfurization waste agent resulting from use of an iron oxide compound as desulfurizer, and a regeneration product of the desulfurization waste agent, under a controlled molar ratio of iron element to sulfur element. It is found that free radical condensation polymerization of inferior oil during cracking process can be blocked effectively by using carbonylation, and hydrogenation is achieved with active hydrogen produced from the conversion of CO and water. In the conversion process, inferior oil can be, directly converted, thereby increasing liquefaction yield and calorific value of the obtained oils. No large amount of waste water is generated after completion of the conversion.

A method and an apparatus for producing a chemical compound from biomass based raw material. The bio-mass based raw material is gasified in a gasification device for forming a gasification gas, the gasification gas is treated in the reactor which includes at least one catalyst layer including Fe-based catalyst for forming a hydrocarbon composition, at least one hydrocarbon fraction including olefins is recovered from the hydrocarbon composition, and a chemical compound is formed from the hydrocarbon fraction. Further, the invention relates to the produced chemical compound.

In accordance with the present invention, disclosed herein is an apparatus and method for removing CO.sub.2 from products by using a first acid gas absorber and a second acid gas absorber, which are both a part of a single acid gas removal unit.

A method is disclosed for activating or regenerating a Fischer Tropsch catalyst used in a gas-to-liquids process operating in recycle mode. The method permits the use of specific inert gases to adjust the mole weight of the gas so that the recycle compressor designed for normal steady state operation can also be used in the ROR method. Nitrogen and carbon dioxide are specifically excluded for the reduction steps of the ROR method as they have been demonstrated to have a negative effect on the method. Nitrogen is used in the oxidation step with small amounts of oxygen containing gas, preferably air, and may be modified with the addition of argon, helium, or carbon dioxide if the mole weight of the oxidation gas needs to be modified to satisfy the requirements of the compressor.

The invention relates to a method of manufacturing hydrocarbons by operating a Fischer-Tropsch reactor comprising a fixed bed of reduced Fischer-Tropsch catalyst that comprises cobalt as catalytically active metal. Further, the present invention relates to a mixture of hydrocarbons obtainable by said Fischer-Tropsch reaction.