2 ISOALKY ™ Technology: Next-Generation Alkylate Gasoline …
35
began commercialization efforts a few years ago. Here, we report key features of the
ISOALKY Technology and introduce overall development and commercialization
efforts.
2.2 Discovery and Development History
Chevron discovered in 2004 in their strategic research program that ionic liquid
catalysts are very effective in alkylating LPG olefins and that the ionic liquid catalyst-based paraffin alkylation process has several performance advantages over the
conventional alkylation technologies. These discoveries led to more than a decade
of extensive efforts to scale up the ISOALKY Technology to a commercially viable
alternative to the traditional alkylation processes that require hydrofluoric acid or
sulfuric acid.
Chevron initially scaled up the ISOALKY Technology from bench-scale R&D
units to a 0.1 BPD laboratory pilot plant. Our laboratory pilot plant has been in continuous operation since 2005. This unit was used initially for reactor concept testing,
alkylation process chemistry study, and optimization of the alkylation process. Extensive modifications were then made to the pilot plant to incorporate other necessary
“sub-processes”, such as effluent separation, on-line regeneration of the ionic liquid catalyst, and alkylate product treating. Currently, this unit is used to support the
commercialization of the ionic liquid catalyst as well as licensing support.
In 2006, we started further scale-up of the ISOALKY Technology and designed
a demonstration (demo) plant with a 100-fold scale-up factor to 10 BPD (Fig. 2.1).
Construction of the demo plant was finished in late 2009. The demo plant was operated for over 5 years, from 2010 until mid-2015. Various process data, design data,
fundamental knowledge on ionic liquid catalysis, and know-how for optimization of
the integrated sub-processes were collected to develop the ISOALKY Technology.
The information collected was used to address all key technology risks and to support
a financial decision to implement the technology at a full commercial scale.
2.3 ISOALKY Technology Simplified Description
Feeds to the paraffin alkylation process are isobutane (iC 4 ) and LPG olefins
C
=
n
.
The olefin feed sources are typically supplied from the fluid catalytic cracking (FCC)
C 3 –C 5 olefin stream. The predominant chemistry for the alkylate process can be
described as:
iC 4 + C
=
4 → C 8 alkylate
iC 4 + C
=
3 → C 7 alkylate
35
began commercialization efforts a few years ago. Here, we report key features of the
ISOALKY Technology and introduce overall development and commercialization
efforts.
2.2 Discovery and Development History
Chevron discovered in 2004 in their strategic research program that ionic liquid
catalysts are very effective in alkylating LPG olefins and that the ionic liquid catalyst-based paraffin alkylation process has several performance advantages over the
conventional alkylation technologies. These discoveries led to more than a decade
of extensive efforts to scale up the ISOALKY Technology to a commercially viable
alternative to the traditional alkylation processes that require hydrofluoric acid or
sulfuric acid.
Chevron initially scaled up the ISOALKY Technology from bench-scale R&D
units to a 0.1 BPD laboratory pilot plant. Our laboratory pilot plant has been in continuous operation since 2005. This unit was used initially for reactor concept testing,
alkylation process chemistry study, and optimization of the alkylation process. Extensive modifications were then made to the pilot plant to incorporate other necessary
“sub-processes”, such as effluent separation, on-line regeneration of the ionic liquid catalyst, and alkylate product treating. Currently, this unit is used to support the
commercialization of the ionic liquid catalyst as well as licensing support.
In 2006, we started further scale-up of the ISOALKY Technology and designed
a demonstration (demo) plant with a 100-fold scale-up factor to 10 BPD (Fig. 2.1).
Construction of the demo plant was finished in late 2009. The demo plant was operated for over 5 years, from 2010 until mid-2015. Various process data, design data,
fundamental knowledge on ionic liquid catalysis, and know-how for optimization of
the integrated sub-processes were collected to develop the ISOALKY Technology.
The information collected was used to address all key technology risks and to support
a financial decision to implement the technology at a full commercial scale.
2.3 ISOALKY Technology Simplified Description
Feeds to the paraffin alkylation process are isobutane (iC 4 ) and LPG olefins
C
=
n
.
The olefin feed sources are typically supplied from the fluid catalytic cracking (FCC)
C 3 –C 5 olefin stream. The predominant chemistry for the alkylate process can be
described as:
iC 4 + C
=
4 → C 8 alkylate
iC 4 + C
=
3 → C 7 alkylate