Dual-Catalyst System for Fischer-Tropsch Diesel

Researchers from Rutgers and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have developed a dual-catalyst chemical process that supplements the Fischer-Tropsch method of making synthetic liquid fuels from coal. The first catalyst transforms alkanes with low molecular weights into carbon-carbon double bonds. The second catalyst scrambles the carbon bonds and creates compounds with higher molecular weights. The first catalyst then returns the hydrogen atoms to the rearranged compounds, yielding alkanes that are usable as diesel fuel.