Jet fuel with increased aromatics from olefin feedstocks

Abstract

This application discloses a process for making jet fuel including: (1) oligomerizing an olefin stream to an oligomer stream; (2) hydrogenating said oligomer stream to provide a paraffin stream; (3) separating said paraffin stream to provide a jet fuel stream and a reformer feed stream; and (4) reforming said reformer feed stream to provide a reformed stream with an increased concentration of aromatics.

1 . A process for making jet fuel or jet fuel blend stock comprising:
 oligomerizing an olefin stream to an oligomer stream;   hydrogenating said oligomer stream to provide a paraffin stream;   separating said paraffin stream to provide a jet fuel stream and a reformer feed stream;   reforming said reformer feed stream to provide a reformed stream comprising an increased concentration of aromatics.   
     
     
         2 . The process of  claim 1  wherein the olefin feed is ethylene. 
     
     
         3 . The process of  claim 1  wherein the olefin feed consists of a mixture of olefinic species within the carbon number range of C 2 -C 8 . 
     
     
         4 . The process of  claim 1  further comprising mixing said reformed stream with said paraffin stream. 
     
     
         5 . The process of  claim 1  further comprising alkylating ethylene with aromatics in said reformer stream to provide an alkylated aromatics stream. 
     
     
         6 . The process of  claim 5  further comprising mixing said alkylated aromatics stream with said paraffin stream. 
     
     
         7 . The process of  claim 1  further comprising oligomerizing said olefins stream in a first stage and further oligomerizing a first stage oligomer stream in a second stage to provide said oligomer stream. 
     
     
         8 . The process of  claim 7  wherein the first stage uses a zeolite-type catalyst, and the second stage uses an amorphous silica-alumina base with a metal from either Group VIIIB and/or Group VIB in the periodic table using Chemical Abstracts Service notations. 
     
     
         9 . The process of  claim 7  wherein the first stage uses an amorphous silica-alumina base with a metal from either Group VIIIB and/or Group VIB in the periodic table using Chemical Abstracts Service notations catalyst and the second stage uses a zeolite-type. 
     
     
         10 . The process of  claim 1  wherein said reformer feed stream comprises C 6  to C 11  paraffins. 
     
     
         11 . The process of  claim 1  further providing a jet fractionation column having a first side outlet producing the jet fuel stream and a second side outlet producing the reformer stream. 
     
     
         12 . The process of  claim 1  further comprising a splitter column to separate the reformed stream into a naphtha stream and a C 8  to C 11  hydrocarbon stream and further comprising mixing the C 8  to C 11  stream with the jet fuel stream. 
     
     
         13 . The process of  claim 1  wherein the step of reforming utilizes a catalyst comprising a refractory aluminum oxide support, a platinum component, a germanium, a tin, or a rhenium component or a combination thereof, and a halogen component. 
     
     
         14 . The process of  claim 1  wherein the step of reforming produces a hydrogen stream that is in communication with the hydrogenating step. 
     
     
         15 . An apparatus for making jet fuel comprising:
 an oligomerization reactor having a first outlet stream;   a hydrogenation reactor in communication with the first outlet stream and having a second outlet stream;   a jet fractionation column in communication with the second outlet stream to separate the second outlet stream into a third outlet stream and a fourth outlet stream; and,   a reformer reactor in communication with the third outlet stream to produce a fifth outlet stream with an increased aromatics content.   
     
     
         16 . The apparatus of  claim 15  further comprising an aromatics alkylation reactor in communication with the fourth outlet stream to form a sixth outlet stream. 
     
     
         17 . The apparatus of  claim 15  wherein the jet fractionation column has a first side outlet producing the third outlet stream and a second side outlet producing the fourth outlet stream. 
     
     
         18 . An apparatus for making jet fuel comprising:
 an oligomerization reactor having a first stage for forming a first oligomer stream and a second stage in communication with the first oligomer stream to form a second oligomer stream;   a hydrogenation reactor in communication with the second oligomer stream and having a hydrogenated hydrocarbon outlet stream;   a fractionation column in communication with the hydrogenated hydrocarbon outlet stream to separate the hydrocarbon outlet stream into a jet fuel outlet stream and a reformer outlet stream; and,   a reformer reactor in communication with the reformer outlet stream to produce a jet fuel stream with an increased aromatics content.   
     
     
         19 . The apparatus of  claim 18  further comprising an aromatics alkylation reactor in communication with the reformer outlet stream. 
     
     
         20 . The apparatus of  claim 18  wherein the fractionator column is a jet fractionator having a first side outlet and a second side outlet, the first side outlet produces the jet fuel outlet stream, and the second side outlet produces the reformer outlet stream.