Chapter 1. Conversion of carbon dioxide into liquid hydrocarbons in the presence of a cobalt-containing catalyst

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-28622-4Abstract There is an increasing interest in carbon dioxide (CO2) capture and subsequent conversion it to value-added chemicals and fuels. Cobalt-based catalysts are widely used in Fisher-Tropsch synthesis of liquid fuels from syngas (CO+H2) as they have high activity, good selectivity and superior stability for the hydrogenation of CO to long-chain hydrocarbons. However, the hydrogenation of CO2 into long-chain hydrocarbons involves both reverse water-gas shift reaction and Fischer-Tropsch synthesis. As a cobalt catalyst lacks the ability to catalyze the reverse water-gas shift reaction, an active component for catalyzing reverse water-gas shift reaction such as iron and copper can be incorporated to a cobalt-based catalyst for CO2 hydrogenation. Proper catalyst supports, structures and pretreatment can further improve the performance of cobalt-based catalysts for CO2 hydrogenation. The pressure and composition of the feed gas was found to have significant effects on the distribution of Fischer-Tropsch synthesized hydrocarbons during CO2 hydrogenation.There are several other chemical processes that have been studied to produce chemicals and fuels from CO2 over a cobalt-based catalyst, which include hydrogenation of CO2 in a basic solution, the use of CO2 to reform CH4 to produce syngas for the subsequent synthesis of Fischer-Tropsch liquids, and electrochemical or photochemical reduction of CO2. Various catalyst supports and promoters have been studied to improve the performance of cobalt-based catalysts for those chemical processes.