Overview
Français
ABSTRACT
The process of alkylation of olefins by paraffin was developed at the beginning of WWII in order to produce high-octane aviation fuels. The global production capacity of alkylates has significantly increased over the last few years. Indeed, alkylates present major advantages compared to fuels derived from other processes: their high octane level which allows for compensating partly the phasing-out of lead in petrol, their low toxicity and less polluting combustion. This article begins by detailing the alkylation reaction scheme, proceeds by presenting the industrial implementation of HF and H2SO4 processes and finally presents the alkylation processes in the presence of heterogeneous catalysts.
Read this article from a comprehensive knowledge base, updated and supplemented with articles reviewed by scientific committees.
Read the articleAUTHOR
-
Jean-François JOLY: Engineer from the École supérieure de chimie industrielle de Lyon - Doctoral engineer, University of Lyon - Head of the Reaction and Reactor Modeling Department at IFP
INTRODUCTION
The process of alkylating olefins with kerosenes was developed in the 1930s, and enjoyed a boom at the start of the Second World War to produce high-octane aviation fuels. More recently, the growing demand for gasoline and the reformulation of fuels (in particular, lower sulfur and aromatic content) has led to an increase in alkylate production capacity worldwide. Alkylates offer significant advantages over gasolines produced by other processes: their high octane rating helps to compensate for the disappearance of lead from gasoline, their low toxicity and their combustion give rise to the least polluting emissions.
The alkylation reaction involves reacting an isobutane molecule with a light olefin molecule to produce a gasoline cut consisting of kerosenes with carbon numbers between 5 and 12.
The Ultimate Scientific and Technical Reference
This article is included in
Unit operations. Chemical reaction engineering
This offer includes:
Knowledge Base
Updated and enriched with articles validated by our scientific committees
Services
A set of exclusive tools to complement the resources
Practical Path
Operational and didactic, to guarantee the acquisition of transversal skills
Doc & Quiz
Interactive articles with quizzes, for constructive reading
Kerosene alkylation of olefins
Main reaction, catalysts and reagents
Bibliography
Bibliography
Regulations
We refer the reader to the regulations on highly concentrated HF and H 2 SO 4 acids.
Directory
Manufacturers – Suppliers – Distributors (non-exhaustive list)
DuPont Stratco http://www.2.dupont.com
Exxon mobil http://www.exxonmobil.com
Statistical and economic data
Alkylation developed mainly in North America, where demand for synthetic gasolines was much higher than in Europe. Of a total of 46 Mt in 1982, over 85% (39 Mt) was manufactured in North America. In 2008, North America still accounted for the majority of alkylation capacity, with 47 Mt, or 58% of worldwide capacity.
Table 1...
The Ultimate Scientific and Technical Reference
