Octane Rating of Gasoline and Octane Booster Additives

Abstract

Gasoline is a petroleum-derived liquid that is used primarily as a fuel in internal combustion engines (ICE), particularly spark ignition Otto Engine. Gasoline is a blend of hydrocarbons with some contaminants, including sulfur, nitrogen, oxygen, and certain metals. The four major constituent groups of gasoline are olefins, aromatics, paraffins, and napthenes. Octane number (ON) is measure of the ignition quality or flammability of gasoline. The ONs are Research Octane Number (RON) and Motor Octane Number (MON). RON is measured relative to a mixture of isooctane and n-heptane. Antiknock Index (AKI) is a measure of a fuel's ability to resist engine knock or octane quality. The AKI is an arithmetic average of RON and MON. The ON decreases with an increase chain length in the hydrocarbon molecule. The ONs increase with carbon chain branching. Another way of increasing the ON is used gasoline octane boosters as additives, such as tetraethyl lead (TEL), methyl tertiary-butyl ether (MTBE), and ferrocene. Aromatic alcohols, ethanol, and methanol also increase the ON of gasoline. The advantage to adding oxygenates, such as MTBE, methanol, and ethanol, to gasoline is that they cause very little pollution when they burn and are cleaner fuels.

The Effect of Functional Groups in Bio‐Derived Fuel Candidates

“…As a result, they were extensively engine tested . Branched ethers, such as methyl tert ‐butyl ether, were considered and used as octane boosters, and as such can improve the efficiency of the engine by allowing for increased compression ratios …”

“…[36] Branched ethers, such as methyl tert-butyl ether, were considered and used as octane boosters, and as such can improvet he efficiency of the engine by allowing for increased compression ratios. [37] Despite being considered as fuels, linear ethers are not without their issues. Dimethyl ether has av ery lowf lash point.…”

Modeling study of the anti-knock tendency of substituted phenols as additives: an application of the reaction mechanism generator (RMG)

“…In this study, n-butane is selected as the base fuel because of the relatively small size and moderate RON of 94, 27 which is similar to that of practical gasolines. 27 The n-butane model is generated under conditions of 1 bar and 650-2000 K. Most of the reaction rate coefficients are estimated using high-P-limit Arrhenius forms in the RMG database, many derived from CBS-QB3 TST calculations. Foundational Fuel Chemistry Model Version 1 28 and the H 2 /O 2 mechanism from Burke et al 29 were used as a seed mechanism to include pressure dependence for small species.…”

Synthesis of Acetone‐Derived C6, C9, and C12 Carbon Scaffolds for Chemical and Fuel Applications

“…[13,27] This is an important consideration given that hydrodeoxygenation of MIBK would cause an egative impact on the economicso fa ni ndustrial process because MIBK is inherently more valuable than the obtained alkane and the reaction requires H 2 .F urthermore, this fact exemplifiest he need to perform preliminaryf uel-property analyses because alkanesa re not necessarily the most ideal fuel targets for ag iven input. [36] In addition to the molecules highlightedi nF igure 2, mesitylene is ak nown octaneb ooster for gasoline fuel with aR ON > 120, [37] making this aromatic byproduct ap otentially desirable fuel blendstock as well.…”

“…Furthermore, this fact exemplifies the need to perform preliminary fuel-property analyses because alkanes are not necessarily the most ideal fuel targets for a given input. [36] In addition to the molecules highlighted in Figure 2, mesitylene is a known octane booster for gasoline fuel with a RON > 120, [37] making this aromatic byproduct a potentially desirable fuel blendstock as well.…”