Draft:Alkylate Gasoline
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Alkylate petrol is a fuel that contains fewer harmful substances such as benzene and toluene than normal petrol (Euro 95). Benzene causes cancer (carcinogenic) and toluene causes acute complaints such as nausea and headaches. When used in hand-held machiness such as a chainsaw, brushcutter or leaf blower, the use of alkylate petrol is better for your health. The cleaner combustion is also better for the machine and the environment. The fuel is offered as mixture with oil for two-stroke engines but is also available as four-stroke petrol.
It is obtained by chemical synthesis instead of distillation and cracking of petroleum which is the production process for regular gasoline. The starting materials for this synthesis are excess gases from petroleum refining. This synthesis is a form of alkylation and is performed in a alkylation unit. Gaseous olefins (substances with a double bond) such as propene and butene and branched saturated hydrocarbons such as isobutane are converted into larger molecules that are liquid. This occurs in the presence of sulfuric acid or hydrogen fluoride to act as a catalyst. Each of these catalysts requires a different proces setup and have different operating conditions. This is because sulfuric acid is a liquid at unit operation conditions, while hydrofluoric acid is a gas at unit operating conditions. [1] Both processes produce almost exclusively alkanes. Initially, this process was invented to obtain ingredients with a high octane number which, when added to gasoline blends, improve knock resistance. It was used extensively during world war two in aviation fuel for aircraft with a internal combustion engine. Nowadays it is used as a ingredient in most finished fuel blends to improve both the octane number and to meet environmental regulations. [2] The sale of pure alkylate gasoline as a healthier alternative to regular gasoline for usage in gardening and forestry equipment started later. Swedish company Aspen started was founded in 1988 with the aim of improving the working conditions of forest workers. [3]
Because alkylate gasoline does not contain aromatics and olefins, it is not only less harmful to health, but also has a shelf life of many years because it does not 'gum'. This gumming is the spontaneous reaction between oxygen and olefins or diolefins [4] known as autoxidation [5] This makes this gasoline very suitable for use in rarely used devices such as a engine–generator, long-term parked cars such as classic cars and lawn mowers that are not used during the winter months.
References
[edit]- ^ Alkylation is an important source for octane in gasoline - U.S. Energy Information Administration https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=9971
- ^ Alkylate: Understanding a Key Component of Cleaner Gasoline - American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers https://afpm.org/newsroom/blog/alkylate-understanding-key-component-cleaner-gasoline
- ^ The story behind Aspen Alkylate Fuel https://aspenfuel.co.uk/about-aspen/#story
- ^ Gum Formation in Gasoline and Its Blends: A Review https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.energyfuels.5b01894
- ^ Researcher to study ways to prevent gum formation in fuel - University of Missouri https://engineering.missouri.edu/2021/researcher-to-study-ways-to-prevent-gum-formation-in-fuel/
External links
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