ETBE, "Ethanol Gasoline"

General Manager of Kairui Environmental Protection Technology Co., Ltd.

 

 

 

On September 13, 2017, the National Development and Reform Commission and other 15 ministries and commissions jointly issued a notice on the implementation plan for expanding the production of biofuel ethanol and promoting the use of ethanol gasoline for vehicles. It is determined that the use of ethanol gasoline will be promoted in many provinces and cities such as Northeast China starting in 2017. By 2020, the country will basically implement full coverage of ethanol gasoline. The policy has been in place for nearly a year. At present, refinery companies are paying close attention to the introduction of follow-up policies and the development of carbon four utilization technologies, especially the most popular selective superposition technology, and are also actively seeking better carbon four. Use the route. In response to the future of carbon four in gasoline reconciliation, this reporter interviewed Zhang Yong, general manager of Kerry Environmental Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Kerry Environmental").

 

Reporter|Tang Yin

 

Respondents | Zhang Yong

 

 

 

Under the New Deal, selective overlap is concerned

 

 

 

[CCN] Since the introduction of the national ethanol gasoline policy, selective superposition technology has been highly concerned by refining companies. What is the current development of this technology in China?

 

[Zhang Yong] E10 ethanol gasoline standard GB18351-2017 clearly stipulates that "ethanol volume fraction is 10% ± 2%, no artificial organic oxygen compounds are allowed to be added", so in principle any other oxygen compounds such as methyl uncle Butyl ether (MTBE) and the like will not be artificially added in the gasoline pool. Selective lamination is a new technology for the production of high-octane anaerobic gasoline blending components using isobutylene. Due to the modification of the existing MTBE plant to produce selective superimposed oil, it has attracted the attention of enterprises after the introduction of the ethanol gasoline policy. Sinopec Research Institute of Petrochemical Technology (hereinafter referred to as “Shike Institute”) quickly applied its own selective lamination technology to Shijiazhuang Refining and Chemical Company after the introduction of the New Deal, using the original MTBE plant to transform 120,000 tons (to carbon four raw materials) The selective superimposing device produces all the superimposed gasoline indicators in line with the expected targets. It is reported that the Academy of Sciences has signed a selective overlay technology transfer contract with a number of companies.

 

The device is equipped with Kerry environmentally friendly laminated resin catalyst. The catalyst can be applied in the first selective stacking technology device in China, and Kerry Environmental has been researching on superimposing technology and superimposed resin catalyst for more than ten years. The results are inseparable. As early as the implementation of the ethanol gasoline policy in 2003 and the ban on MTBE in the United States in 2004, Kerry Environmental began to study the MTBE replacement technology and catalyst, and finally successfully developed the production technology and supporting technology of superimposed and ethyl tert-butyl ether (ETBE). Catalyst (including isobutylene superposed resin catalyst, isooctene hydrogenation catalyst, ETBE synthesis catalyst). Among them, the laminated resin catalyst has been used in many sets of equipment in China in recent years; in 2016, it was exported to India, and the IOCL indirect alkylation unit in India has been successfully applied to achieve industrialization. Orders for ETBE resin catalysts in the European market are an important part of Kerry's international trade.

 

[CCN] Does this mean that selective stacking technology can completely replace MTBE devices?

 

[Zhang Yong] Selective superposition technology is the only technical means that can replace MTBE technology in China's ethanol gasoline policy and realize the conversion of isobutylene into anaerobic high-octane gasoline blending component.

 

However, the selective stacking technique has a certain gap compared to MTBE in terms of product octane number, economy and butene separation. The MTBE has an octane number of 115 (RON), which is much higher than the isooctane octane number of 100 (RON). It is a better gasoline blending component and can convert methanol to high octane during the production of MTBE. Value gasoline increases business efficiency. MTBE technology is currently the most effective method for separating isobutylene from 1-butene. Selective stacking technology is not a substitute for MTBE technology for effective separation of isobutylene and 1-butene. There is still a problem of 1-butene loss.

 

 

 

Adding ethanol to gasoline

 

 

 

[CCN] China's ethanol gasoline policy has been implemented in some parts of China as early as 2003, but many people still have some problems with ethanol gasoline compared to ordinary unleaded gasoline. How do you think about this?

 

[Zhang Yong] Promoting ethanol gasoline is conducive to optimizing the energy structure, improving the ecological environment, and regulating the grain market. It is also an effective way to deal with foods that exceed the standard and exceed the standard.

 

However, ethanol gasoline also has its obvious disadvantages: First, the fuel consumption rises: the data shows that the calorific value of gasoline is 43.03 MJ/kg, the calorific value of diesel is 46.04 MJ/kg, and the calorific value of pure ethanol is only 26 MJ/kg. Even if ethanol gasoline is not pure ethanol, the calorific value is lower than normal gasoline, only 39.82 MJ/kg. In order to achieve the specified power output, the electronic control unit (ECU) will inject more fuel, resulting in an increase in fuel consumption. The actual addition of ethanol gasoline will increase the fuel consumption of the car by about 3.5%. Second, the difficulty of low-temperature start-up: ethanol gasoline gasification latent heat, heat absorption, will lead to a reduction in the internal working temperature of the engine block, resulting in difficulty in starting at low temperatures. Third, it is easier to deposit carbon: the vaporization heat of ethanol gasoline is high. When it is injected into the back of the intake valve through the injector, the temperature on the back of the intake valve will decrease, and the gasoline will not be fully atomized. Gum is formed, so that carbon deposits are easily formed on the back of the intake valve. The fourth is easy to stratify, storage and transportation inconvenience: ethanol is a polar substance, when mixed with non-polar substances of hydrocarbons, as long as a trace of water is present, it can cause phase separation of ethanol and gasoline. Moreover, the shelf life of ethanol gasoline is shorter than that of ordinary gasoline, and it is easy to stratify after the shelf life. Due to the easy stratification of ethanol gasoline, it is necessary to establish an ethanol gasoline blending center in various places, which is now sold and increased, which increases transportation and management costs.

 

[CCN] Since there are so many shortcomings in ethanol gasoline, the selective lamination technology can't completely replace the MTBE device. Is there any better technology that can use ethanol and solve the problem of ethanol gasoline and selective superposition?

 

[Zhang Yong] From the perspective of the development of foreign gasoline, ethanol gasoline is not the only way to add ethanol to gasoline. Since the United States and European countries discovered the problem of groundwater pollution in MTBE in 2004, they gradually began to ban MTBE and vigorously developed ethanol gasoline and alkylated oil. The development of ethanol gasoline has two paths, one is directly added as in China, and the other is the way of adding ETBE. The production of ETBE is carried out by reacting ethanol with isobutylene under the action of an acidic catalyst. Compared with MTBE, ETBE only has a slightly lower oxygen content, and other performance indicators are better than MTBE. In particular, its Reid vapor pressure is lower, it is more miscible with gasoline than MTBE, and its solubility in water is less than 1/3 of MTBE. It has little pollution to groundwater. The maximum addition of ETBE in gasoline is 17V%, while ethanol accounts for 45.1wt% in ETBE. That is, the ETBE form is used to blend ethanol into gasoline. It can add about 8% ethanol, which is slightly lower than the current domestic ethanol gasoline standard. The amount of ethanol added was (10 ± 2) V%. However, the use of ethanol in the form of ETBE can solve the problems of the above-mentioned ethanol gasoline such as rising fuel consumption, carbon deposition, delamination, etc., and can well realize the separation of isobutylene and 1-butene, and the existing MTBE device. The transformation will be simpler and the investment cost will be smaller, which is more than one.

 

 

 

Mature technology is exported overseas