Overview
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.
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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.
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Alkylation of olefins by paraffins
Main reaction, catalysts and reagents
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