PROCESS FOR THE CONVERSION OF LIGHT OLEFINS TO ETHER-RICH GASOLINE

摘要

F-5691 PROCESS FOR THE CONVERSION OF LIGHT OLEFINS TO ETHER-RICH GASOLINE Light olefins are converted to gasoline with a high enough content of ethers to provide a significant octane improvement over a base ('or cracking') gasoline (clear RON = 90-92; clear MON = 79-80). One portion of the olefins is hydrated to produce alcohols, and the other is used to synthesize an olefin-rich gasoline. The alcohols are used to etherify the gasoline. The combination of unit operations minimizes the energy needed to run the process for which no external solvent is needed. The process capitalizes on the higher solubility in gasoline of ethanol, propanol, and butanol, compared to methanol. Besides having very low solubility in gasoline, etherification with methanol or ethanol produces an inadequately rewarding increase in octane number, compared to propanol or isopropanol. Taking advantage of the inherent chemical and physical properties of C3-C4 alcohol/gasoline mixtures results both in an unexpectedly high octane number for the ether-rich gasoline as well as an effective and economical process for producing it. The improvement in octane is particularly noteworthy because the weight percent of oxygen in olefinic gasoline etherified with C3-C4 alcohols is less than one-half that of gasoline etherified with either C1 or C2 alcohol.