Includes bibliographical references.In Fischer-Tropsch synthesis carbon monoxide and hydrogen are converted in a surface polymerisation reaction over a heterogeneous catalyst to mainly long chain hydrocarbons and water. Although all group VIII metals are reported to show activity in this process, only iron and cobalt are used on an industrial scale due to availability and costs. In order to minimise the costs of these catalysts it is generally important to increase the mass specific active surface area by dispersing the active material on an inert carrier. Recent studies on nano sized iron, cobalt, ruthenium and rhodium crystallites indicate that below a certain crystallite size they display a decrease in surface specific activity. This work aims to study the crystallite size effect of cobalt, supported on an industrially relevant carrier material, on activity and selectivity in the Fischer-Tropsch synthesis
