Development and Application of Highly Efficient Catalyst for Oligomerization of Butane-Butylene Fraction for the Production of High-Octane Component of Motor Gasoline

Abstract

Main steps of the development of the technology for synthesis of a catalyst based on high-silica zeolite ZSM-5 for oligomerization of butane-butylene fraction (BBF) are reported. Application of a new procedure for the zeolite surface modification makes it possible to improve the selectivity and yield of the target product (against the known analogues), to synthesize more branched (and, hence, with a higher octane numbers) oligomers at lower pressures. Introduction of a metal-promoter, Ga, provides 0,9 % higher yield of the target gasoline fraction as compared to that over the non-promoted catalyst. Comparative pilot testing of the samples of industrial (BAC-70U) and developed (Ga-ZSM-5/Al2O3) catalysts for BBF oligomerization at 300 °C, feed flow rate 1,5 mL BBF/(mL cat·h) showed that the yield of the target fraction is 7 % higher over the modified ZSM-5 than over BAC-70U. Throughout the testing (191 h), a higher quality of the oligomerizate produced over Ga-ZSM-5/Al 2 O 3 was observed: MON was 2 points higher and concentration of gums twice as little. The results obtained during studies and testing were used for the development and industrial implementation of the technology for the production of the zeolite-containing catalyst COB-1 for oligomerization. A 2,5 t batch of the industrial catalyst was produced by September 2016 at the facilities of the Redkino Catalyst Company. The next important step in the implementation of the Gazpromneft strategy for innovative development in oil refining is to achieve a test run of the new catalyst using the industrial combined setup for the production of MTBE and oligomerizate at the Gazpromneft-Moscow Refinery. The use of COB-1 at the Refinery will be an important step to improve efficiency of the process for synthesis of high-margin products – components of the commercial motor gasoline.