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Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, Vol.55, No.43, 11193-11210, 2016
Conversion of Isobutylene to Octane-Booster Compounds after Methyl tert-Butyl Ether Phaseout: The Role of Heterogeneous Catalysis
Over the last decades, the global demand of the production of methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) was significantly decreased from 30 million tons per year (MTPY) in 1995 to 12 million tons per year (MTPY) in 2011 because of the phaseout of MTBE in the United States and other countries. MTBE was banned in some countries because it produces health and environmental pollution and contaminates water and air quality. After MTBE phaseout, isobutylene feedstock is used for the production of another octane booster compound such as isooctane with a more environmental friendly reputation. Isooctane is obtained by dimerization, trimerization, and oligomerization of isobutylene followed by a hydrogenation step. Dimerization of isobutylene to isooctane is a simple and low-cost-effective technology using heterogeneous catalysts such as zeolites, metal oxides, and resins. Zeolites are potential catalyst with high selectivity, high stability, easy regeneration, and low-cost production. The conversion and selectivity can be increased with higher acid strength, a larger dimensional channel, and higher pore size. USY zeolite (FAU topology) is a promising zeolite framework to be improved in the dimerization of isobutylene. Further improvement of USY zeolite has been emphasized as needed to develop better dimerization catalysts.