Natural Gas Liquids into Motor Gasolines: Methodology for Processing on a Zeolite Catalyst and Development of Blending Recipes

Abstract

Natural gas liquids are a by-product of natural gas preparation, one of the most common and environmentally friendly energy sources. In natural gas fields located in remote areas, there is no resource-efficient way to use natural gas liquids. However, natural gas liquids are a valuable hydrocarbon feedstock for the production of motor fuels, in particular motor gasolines. The aim of this work is to develop a method for obtaining motor gasolines by processing natural gas liquids on a zeolite catalyst, taking into account the influence of the particle size of the zeolite catalyst, the technological parameters of the process, and the composition of the feedstock. As part of the work, for the first time, regularities of the influence of zeolite catalyst particle size, technological parameters of the process and the composition of feedstock on the composition and characteristics of the resulting processed products were revealed. A database about the composition and characteristics of natural gas liquids, obtained from various gas fields in Western Siberia of the Russian Federation, has been accumulated. During the study, it was found that the optimal particle size of the zeolite catalyst is 0.50–1.00 mm; optimal technological parameters are a temperature of 375 °C, pressure 2.5 atm. and the feedstock space velocity 2 h−1. It is shown that the processing of natural gas liquids of various compositions on a zeolite catalyst, on average, makes it possible to increase their detonation resistance by more than 16 points. The results obtained indicate the prospects of using the process for the production of motor gasoline. The paper presents a number of blending recipes for obtaining fuels, both within the framework of production at the fields and at processing plants.