AM-94-16 ALKYLATION OF REFINERY C5 STREAMS TO LOWER GASOLINE VOLATILITY

Description:

A pilot plant program was carried out to provide precise information about the sulfuric acid alkylation of refinery C5 streams under conditions found in commercial operation of the Exxon stirred, autorefrigerated alkylation process. The study used isobutane to alkylate the full range of pentenes in a C5 cut from an FCC unit as well as the linear olefin concentrate in the raffinate that would be obtained after processing this cut in a TAME unit. A few experiments were conducted with a mixture of C5 olefins matching the composition of the refinery feed in order to highlight the effect of impurities. The results showed that hydrocarbon impurities are a principal factor causing the high acid consumption values reported for pentene alkylation. The results also demonstrated that operating variables that affect acid consumption and alkylate quality in butene alkylation produce directionally similar effects in pentene alkylation, but of different magnitude. It is concluded that sulfuric acid alkylation of pentenes produces an excellent isoparaffinic blending stock for the gasoline pool while eliminating volatile olefins and reducing gasoline RVP. Combined with the TAME process, a scheme for adding oxygen and achieving maximum RVP reduction at the same time is realized.