Abstract
Higher fuel anti-knock quality will be required as spark ignition engines are designed for higher efficiency in the future. This paper introduces a new high-octane gasoline blending component made from low value mixed butenes using a new process. The component named SuperButol(TM) is mainly a mixture of butanol isomers (-93%) with small amounts of diisobutylenes (-5%) and di-sec-butyl ether (similar to 2%). The manufacturing process is described in brief and the results of blending this product on gasoline properties and comparison with other high-octane components such as MTBE and ethanol are presented. SuperButol(TM) has slightly lower blending RON compared to MTBE but has lower blending vapor pressure and higher energy content compared to ethanol. SuperButol(TM) has insignificant effect on key gasoline specifications, namely, potential and actual gum, oxidation stability, intake valve deposits, port fuel injector fouling, haze formation and water extractability performance. Therefore, it is considered to be a viable and affordable gasoline component, which can help to meet future demands for high-octane gasoline. In addition, the process helps to optimize refinery operations by valorizing low-value products. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.