Skeletal iron catalyst and its preparation for Fischer-Tropsch synthesis processes

A method for preparing a skeletal iron catalyst useful for Fischer-Tropsch synthesis processes, comprising the steps of:

• a) preparing a catalyst precursor metal alloy by providing iron powder together with aluminum powder sufficient to provide iron content of 20-80 wt. %, and adding 0.01-5.0 wt. % copper promotor powder to provide a metal powder mixture;
• heating said metal powder mixture in an electric arc induction furnace under inert gas protection while mixing said powders uniformly by magnetic stirring and melting the metal powders, then cooling the melted precursor metal alloy to room temperature and pulverizing the metal alloy to provide iron alloy precursor particles having 0.1-10 mm particle size;
• b) treating said iron alloy precursor particles by providing NaOH or KOH caustic solution having 10-50% concentration in a stirred container under hydrogen atmosphere and heating the solution to 30-95° C. temperature, then intermittently adding the iron alloy precursor particles into the caustic solution at suitable time intervals while maintaining the treating condition for 5-150 minutes after iron alloy particle addition and extracting and/or leaching out a major portion of the non-ferrous metals from the iron alloy particles which retain 40-90 wt. % iron, then washing the iron alloy particles with deionized water until pH=7, displacing the water with alcohol, and placing the resulting skeletal iron catalyst particles in ethanol;
• and
• c) pre-treating the skeletal iron catalyst particles by screening to provide 20-2000 micron particle size and drying and reducing with hydrogen at high space velocity at 100-500° C. temperature for 2-12 hours, then transferring the dried skeletal iron catalyst into water-free ethanol or liquid paraffin for storage.