Production of Isooctane from Isobutene: Energy Integration and Carbon Dioxide Abatement via Catalytic Distillation

Production of Isooctane from Isobutene: Energy Integration and Carbon Dioxide Abatement via Catalytic Distillation

Type	Journal Article
Author	Behnam M. Goortani
Author	Aashish Gaurav
URL	http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/ie5032056
Volume	54
Issue	14
Pages	3570-3581
Publication	Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research
Date	April 15, 2015
Abstract	Isooctane is a valuable octane enhancer for gasoline and the primary component of aviation gasoline, or Avgas, due to its high antiknock quality. Conventional industrial processes for isooctane production involve dimerization of isobutene, dimer separation, and hydrogenation. Authors describe the efficacy of catalytic distillation (CD) and its merits, in terms of energy savings and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, for the production of isooctane. The feed considered for the isooctane production is composed of isobutene (C4) and inerts (isopentane) produced in refineries as byproducts of steam cracking of naphtha and light gas oil. Authors modeled process flow sheets for the two routes for the production of isooctane, with and without CD. The conventional industrial flow sheet composed of a dimerization reactor, distillation column, and a hydrogenation reactor, was simulated using Aspen Plus. The intensified process flow sheet comprising a CD column for the dimerization, hydrogenation, and separation was modeled using gPROMS. A validated, nonequilibrium, three-phase model was developed in a gPROMS environment and used to quantify the energy savings and reduction of carbon dioxide emissions achieved using a CD column for the intensified process. Results demonstrate CD to be a promising candidate to replicate the conversions and product purity obtained in the conventional process while resulting in significant energy savings, more efficient utilization of isobutene feed, and reduced carbon dioxide emissions.