Patents Examined by Jr., Prince Willis
  • Patent number: 5080691
    Abstract: Light olefins are converted to gasoline with a high enough content of ethers to provide a significant octane improvement over a base (or `cracking`) gasoline (clear RON=90-92; clear MON=79-80). One portion of the olefins is hydrated to produce alcohols, and the other is used to synthesize an olefin-rich gasoline. The alcohols are used to etherify the gasoline. The combination of unit operations minimizes the energy needed to run the process for which no external solvent is needed. The process capitalizes on the higher solubility in gasoline of ethanol, propanol and butanol, compared to methanol. Besides having very low solubility in gasoline, etherification with methanol or ethanol produces an inadequately rewarding increase in octane number, compared to propanol or isopropanol. Taking advantage of the inherent chemical and physical properties of C.sub.3 -C.sub.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 4, 1990
    Date of Patent: January 14, 1992
    Assignee: Mobil Oil Corp.
    Inventors: Charles M. Sorensen, Sadi Mizrahi, Samuel A. Tabak