(662d) Composite Ionic liquid alkylation(CILA) process produces high-quality gasoline

Isobutane alkylation is a common refinery process used to produce high-quality gasoline. The most desirable components in alkylate gasoline are trimethylpentanes (TMPs), which have research octane numbers (RONs) greater than 100. Conventional alkylation processes use either H2SO4 or anhydrous HF acid as catalysts. This has significant safety and environmental concerns due to the handling of large quantities of spent H2SO4 or hazardous HF. Ionic liquids（ILs） are ionic, salt-like materials that are liquid at less than 100° C. ILs have been historically used as solvents and homogeneous catalysts6 due to their negligible vapor pressure, good solubility to a wide range of organic and inorganic compounds, and ability to be recycled for reuse. The most important for alkylation process is its tunable super-acidity. A new composite ionic liquid (IL) was developed in the laboratory. It can be used in the isobutane alkylation process to produce high quality gasoline which has no sulfur, no olefin, no aromatic hydrocarbon, but has high RON. At this presentation, the development of composite ionic liquid, the deactivation and regeneration of catalyst, and the 100000 ton/year commercial process and its operation results will be discussed. Now several industrial plants are running,such as one 150,000 ton/year plant in Haerbin petrochemical company of CNPC, two 300,000 ton/year plant in Jiujiang and Wuhan petrochemical company of SINOPEC.