An exploratory study of the catalytic activities of ruthenium supported on rare earth oxides

Abstract

Rare earth oxides supported ruthenium, prepared by the impregnation method, shows total surface areas of 40 to 145 m²g^-1 and Ru-loadings of 5.0 to 1.0 wt%. The dispersion of Ru as signified by H/Ruatomic ratio in conventional adsorption studies are in the range of 0.2 to 0.8 after calcination and reduction of the catalyst samples at 673 K. The conversion of CO/H₂ as followed by a pulse method results in largely Cl to C6 hydrocarbons with traces of higher hydrocarbons and probably, oxygenates. The olefin contents are in the range of 10 to 80% depending on the nature of the support and ruthenium loading.