A fundamental discovery about the Fischer Tropsch process, a catalytic reaction used in industry to convert coal, natural gas or biomass to liquid fuels, could someday allow for more efficient fuel production. Researchers discovered previously unknown self-sustained oscillations in the Fischer Tropsch process. They found that unlike many catalytic reactions which have one steady state, this reaction periodically moves back and forth from a high to a low activity state. The discovery means that these well-controlled oscillatory states might be used in the future to control the reaction rate and the yields of desired products.
A fundamental discovery about the Fischer Tropsch process, a catalytic reaction used in industry to convert coal, natural gas or biomass to liquid fuels, could someday allow for more efficient fuel production.
Although the Fischer Tropsch process is commonly used for fuel and chemical production, researchers have had little understanding of how the complex catalytic conversion process works. The process uses a catalyst to convert two simple molecules, hydrogen and carbon monoxide, into long chains of molecules -- the hydrocarbons that are used widely in daily life.
"That was pretty funny," Kruse said."He showed it to me, and I said, 'Rui, congratulations, you have oscillations! And then we developed this story more and more." Kruse has been working on oscillatory reactions for more than 30 years. The discovery of the oscillatory behavior with the Fischer Tropsch reaction was very surprising because the reaction is mechanistically extremely complicated.
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