High Quality Oxygenated as Gasoline Components

The use of oxygenates compounds as fuel dates back to the introduction of first cars Henry Eord, in fact, built at the begirining of the twentieth century two different models of car with engines powered with only ethanol (called Quadricycle) or with a 

Su inahle Indu rial Processes. Edited by F. Cavani, G. Centi, S. Perathoner, and F. Trifiro Copyright 2009 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH Co. KGaA, Weinheim ISBN 978-3-527-31552-9 

As a consequence, MTBE, whose industrial production was started in 1973 (Snamprogetti/ANIC plant in Raverma), became the fastest growing chemical in the 1980s, with a global capadty higher than 20 million-t per year in the 1990s. 

H o wever, concern over its wide use in the USA were raised espedally in California, where, in 1996, it was detected in some drinking water wells, making the water taste and smell badly. Actually, MTBE accumulates in water, due to its relatively high solubility and very slow biodegradation rate, and as little as 15 ppb of MTBE can be smelt in water with a consequent large, negative impact on the public, even if no negative effects on the human health have been proven. 

Several causes have been identified for the presence of MTBE in water but, for sure, the leakage in UST (underground storage tanks) and gasoline pipelines played a major role. 

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