Octane number hydrocarbon branching

Unbumt gasoline and cracked hydrocarbons such as ethylene and propylene are also substantial constituents of exhaust. Gasoline contains additives such as benzene, toluene and branched hydrocarbons to achieve the necessary octane numbers. The direct emission of these volatile compounds, e.g. at gas stations, is a significant source of air pollution. Leaded fuels, containing antiknock additions such as tetra-ethyl-lead, have been abandoned because lead poisons both human beings and the three-way exhaust catalyst, especially for the removal of NO by rhodium. 

Gasoline quality is largely determined by motor and research octane numbers. There is a strong correlation between octane and the structure of the Cs to C12 hydrocarbons typically present in gasoline, Table I. For paraffins, octane decreases as molecular weight increases and increases with degree of branching. The same is true of olefins. 

Herbst et al. report a process for the conversion of linear and/or branched paraffins based on the use of an IL catalyst in combination with a metal salt additive, which provides a catalytic composition of increased activity compared with the IL alone. Under suitable reaction conditions this conversion leads to paraffin hydrocarbon fractions having higher octane numbers. 

The octane number improvement obtained by isomerization of paraffin hydrocarbons is not great since the amounts of the more highly branched paraffins formed at equilibrium are small at the temperatures employed in catalytic reforming (5). Naphthene isomerization, on the other hand, plays a more important role in reforming. In most naphthas about 50% of the naphthene hydrocarbons are of the cyclopentane type (4) so that in order to obtain the maximum aromatic formation, isomerization of these rings to cyclohexane rings must be promoted by the catalyst. 

Table I. Effect of Hydrocarbon Branching on Octane Number...

Olefin Isomerization. One other type of hydrocarbon isomerization is on the threshold of commercialization—namely, that of olefins. Processes for olefin isomerization were first developed some 15 years ago (11, 14, 20) after it was recognized that highly branched olefins have higher octane numbers than do their straight-chain isomers, and that the octane numbers of olefins increase as the double bond moves toward the middle of the molecule. 

Alkane isomerization equilibria are temperature-dependent, with the formation of branched isomers tending to occur at lower temperatures (Table 4.1). The use of superacids exhibiting high activity allows to achieve isomerization at lower temperature (as discussed below). As a result, high branching and consequently higher octane numbers are attained. Also, thermodynamic equilibria of neutral hydrocarbons and those of derived carbocations are substantially different. Under appropriate conditions (usual acid catalysts, longer contact time) the thermodynamic... 

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