Studies of the fischer‐tropsch synthesis on a cobalt catalyst i. evaluation of product distribution parameters from experimental data

Two models describing the distribution of linear and monomethyl alkanes in Fischer‐Tropsch products from a cobalt catalyst are formulated. Distribution parameters for monomethyl isomers are derived by assuming either a post‐branching effect on linear chain growth or a decreasing reactivity toward branching with increasing chain length. Distribution parameters for each of the models have been extracted from an extensive experimental data set. We find that the experimental results are well represented by both the models. A “break” in the distribution of linear paraffins has also been observed and is modelled as a sum of the yields of two Anderson‐Schulz‐Flory distributions. We postulate that the two chain growth processes which produce the distributions are governed by two kinds of termination.