Process to produce clean gasoline/bio-ethers using ethanol

Abstract

A fuel or fuel blendstock comprising ethanol, ethyl ethers, olefins, and alkanes. In some embodiments, the fuel or fuel blendstock of claim 1, wherein the fuel or fuel blendstock may have an octane number greater than 92 (RON+MON)/2). In other embodiments, the fuel or fuel blendstock may have a Reid vapor pressure less than 7.2 psi. Also disclosed is a process for the production of a fuel, the process including: contacting ethanol and at least one gasoline fraction including alkanes and olefins in the presence of a catalyst to form a fuel mixture including ethyl ethers, alkanes, unreacted olefins, and unreacted ethanol; and recovering the fuel mixture for use as a gasoline or gasoline blendstock without separation of the ethanol from the fuel mixture.

1 . A fuel or fuel blendstock comprising ethanol, ethyl ethers, olefins, and alkanes. 
   
   
       2 . The fuel or fuel blendstock of  claim 1 , wherein the fuel or fuel blendstock has an octane number greater than 92 (RON+MON)/2). 
   
   
       3 . The fuel or fuel blendstock of  claim 1 , wherein the fuel or fuel blendstock has a Reid vapor pressure less than 7.2 psi. 
   
   
       4 . The fuel or fuel blendstock of  claim 1 , wherein the fuel or fuel blendstock has an oxygen content of at least 3.5 weight percent. 
   
   
       5 . A process for the production of a fuel, the process comprising:
 contacting ethanol and at least one gasoline fraction comprising alkanes and olefins in the presence of a catalyst to form a fuel mixture comprising ethyl ethers, alkanes, unreacted olefins, and unreacted ethanol;   recovering the fuel mixture for use as a gasoline or gasoline blendstock without separation of the ethanol from the fuel mixture.   
   
   
       6 . The process of  claim 5 , wherein the contacting comprises:
 feeding ethanol and a gasoline fraction comprising isoolefins to a distillation column reactor system containing at least one etherification reaction zone; and   withdrawing the fuel mixture from the distillation column reactor system as a bottoms fraction.   
   
   
       7 . The process of  claim 5 , wherein the contacting comprises:
 feeding ethanol and a gasoline fraction comprising isoolefins to a fixed-bed reactor system containing at least one etherification reaction zone.   
   
   
       8 . The process of  claim 5 , further comprising blending at least one of ethanol and a second gasoline fraction with the fuel mixture. 
   
   
       9 . The process of  claim 5 , further comprising transporting at least one of the ethanol and the gasoline fraction to a site for performing the contacting and recovering. 
   
   
       10 . The process of  claim 5 , wherein the transporting comprises using of at least one of a pipeline, barge, tanker truck, and rail car. 
   
   
       11 . The process of  claim 5 , wherein the gasoline fraction comprises C 4  to C 9  alkanes. 
   
   
       12 . The process of  claim 5 , wherein the gasoline fraction comprises C 4  to C 7  olefins. 
   
   
       13 . The process of  claim 5 , wherein the ethyl ethers comprise at least one of ethyl tertiary butyl ether, tertiary amyl ethyl ether, tertiary hexyl ethyl ethers, and tertiary heptyl ethyl ethers. 
   
   
       14 . The process of  claim 5 , wherein the gasoline fraction comprises at least one of a C 4  cut, a C 5  cut, a C 6  cut, and a light naphtha fraction. 
   
   
       15 . The process of  claim 5 , wherein the fuel mixture comprises a Reid Vapor Pressure less than 7.2 psi. 
   
   
       16 . The process of  claim 5 , wherein an oxygen content of the fuel mixture is at least 3.5 weight percent.