Which oxygenates is right for you?

Conference · Sat Dec 31 04:00:00 EST 1994

OSTI ID:254722

Chang, E J ^[1]

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1. SRI International, Menlo Park, CA (United States)

Recent announcements of additional sources of oxygenates have generated considerable interest. Increasing demand for methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) worldwide, especially in the United States for oxygenated fuel and reformulated gasoline (RFG), provides the primary incentive for technologies that produce additional raw material (namely isobutene) and/or alternative oxygenate compounds. Normal butene isomerization and diisopropyl ether (DIPE) are two new processes introduced in 1992 to meet the oxygenate demand. The U.S. Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 (CAAA) have created a huge demand for capital. Between 1991 and 2000, the U.S. refining industry will need to make capital expenditures of about $37 billion (1990 dollars) to meet refinery regulatory requirements, and to manufacture reformulated gasoline and ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel. To obtain financing, whether internally or from external sources, projects must provide sound economics and pose minimal technological risks. These concerns have prevented several large MTBE projects, involving both established and new technologies, from going forward. The introduction of normal butene isomerization and DIPE processes has generated a great deal of enthusiasm, but neither process had been licensed by the third quarter of 1993. Technology risk is a major barrier to obtaining financing inasmuch as lenders arc unlikely to finance the first commercial application of any technology. Currently, Texas Olefins/Phillips Petroleum and Lyondell have demonstrated normal butene isomerization on a commercial scale in their plants. However, Mobil has not demonstrated the DIPE process beyond the pilot plant stage. In this paper, we assess the technological aspects of normal butene isomerization and DIPE processes, and compare their economics with existing etherification processes.

• OSTI ID: 254722
• Report Number(s): CONF-940813--
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
BUTENES
BUTYL ETHER
COMBUSTION PRODUCTS
DEMAND
ECONOMICS
ETHERS
FINANCING
FUEL ADDITIVES
GASOLINE
ISOMERIZATION
PETROLEUM REFINERIES
SYNTHESIS