The combination of bimetallic Fe-Co (as polymerization catalyst) and HZSM-5 (as cracking catalyst) could convert synthesis gas to biofuel in one-step Fischer-Tropsch synthesis. Mesoporous HZSM-5 gave better conversion, because it increased reactants and products diffusivity. The effect of impregnated ratio of iron and cobalt on characterization of Fe-Co/meso-HZSM-5 catalyst had been studied. HZSM-5 was made from ammonium ZSM-5 through calcination process, then it was desilicated with NaOH and impregnated with 10% metal loading and 0-100% Fe content in Fe-Co (%w). The material results were reduced continuously by hydrogen at 400° for 10 hours. Treatment of HZSM-5 in various ratio of iron and cobalt leads to mesoporosity development. The iron and cobalt impregnation decreased the total surface area from 350.859 m2/g (on HZSM-5) to 231.852-329.606 m2/g (on Fe-Co/HZSM-5). Increasing cobalt content in Fe-Co impregnation on HZSM-5 decreased total surface area and increased average pore diameter. Impregnation process lowered the crystallinity but still maintained the material crystal structure. The catalyst reduction produced Fe, Co, alloy Fe-Co and less oxides of Fe2O3 and Co3O4. The largest alloy Fe-Co could be found in 30Fe-70Co/HZSM-5. Iron and cobalt impregnation occupied the active sites formed from alcohol groups function that was indicated with decreasing alcohol groups area in FTIR spectra.

Fischer-Tropsch synthesis is a polymerization reaction which produces various products such as paraffin, olefins, alcohols, and aldehydes. The purpose of this study was to determine the performance of Fe and Co bimetallic catalysts with the support of HZSM-5 for Fischer-Tropsch synthesis. This study consists of two stages. The first stage was started by making a mesopore sized HZSM-5 catalyst through desilication, then impregnated with bimetallic Fe and Co which acted as a promoter. The impregnation method used was the incipient wetness impregnation. In the impregnation, process variations were made in the ratio of Fe to Co 1:9 and 2:8 metal loading was 10%. The Fe-Co catalyst / HZSM-5 was analyzed for characterization and activity tests. The characteristic tests were BET, XRD, FTIR, and EDX. The second stage was activity test of Fe-Co / HZSM-5 catalyst in the biofuel production process from syngas through Fischer-Tropsch reaction: The best performance catalyst was used for the biofuel production process. Fischer-Tropsch process was carried out in a fixed bed reactor, with an operating temperature of 200, 225, 250 °C carried out for 100 hours in one run, then analysis of product composition by GC-MS.

Fischer-Tropsch synthesis is the process of converting hydrogen into liquid fuel through several stages, namely: polymerization of CO and H2 gases into long chain hydrocarbons. From the FT process that requires many of these steps, this research was carried out in order to be able to simplify the Fischer-Tropsch process through limited polymerization to obtain liquid fuels. By combining Co and Fe metal catalysts, it is expected to show better performance than the use of individual metals. Using a Fe-Co/HZSM-5 metal catalyst combination in a fixed bed reactor at a reaction temperature of 225°C. Fe-Co / HZSM-5 catalyst was made by wet impregnation, then Fe-Co/HZSM-5 catalyst was characterized using XRD, BET, and SEM-EDX. From the XRD results, the addition of Fe and Co did not change the crystal structure of the HZSM-5 catalyst. The surface area of the HZSM-5 was 526.03 m2/g and decreased after the addition of metal (Fe and Co) to the HZSM-5. This change indicates that Fe and Co particles were successfully dispersed on the surface of the HZSM-5 and inserted into the HZSM-5 pore. Hydrocarbon biofuel products are analyzed using GC-MS. The results of GC-MS hydrocarbon products showed the highest compounds for hydrocarbons C13 and C14 chains were 5.78% and 6.68% at 225 °C.