This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I Project is focused on the development of economically and environmentally advantageous solid acid catalysts for the gasoline alkylation process; a process whereby alkylate is generated by the reaction of butenes with isobutane to generate a highly branched C8 hydrocarbon. Alkylate, comprises over 12% of the gasoline pool and is one of best components of gasoline having high octane, low volatility, and clean burning characteristics. Consequently, demand is growing for this material. The strategy of this research will be to synthesize novel, non-volatile, easily separable solid acids with superacidic properties, characterize the materials and test then for alkylation acidity. Currently, alkylate is generated in acid catalyzed processes utilizing liquid sulfuric or liquid hydrofluoric acids. At any time, a typical plant sulfuric acid plant utilizes 2.5 million pounds of sulfuric acid while a hydrofluoric acid plant utilizes 200,000 pounds of this material. Particularly in the case of the volatile, highly toxic, hydrofluoric acid, these large quantities of toxic acids pose significant health and environmental issue. Additionally, these acids require frequent regeneration. In the case of sulfuric acid, a typical plant will generate 100 tons/day of spent acid that requires regeneration. The replacement of these liquid acids with non-volatile, easily separated solid acid catalysts would provide refiners with a more economic option for producing high octane reformulated gasoline reduce the environmental problems associated with current processes. It is anticipated that the development of effective solid acid catalysts would have broad implication for the process industry as many industrial processes utilize acid catalysts.
