Single step process for the simultaneous production of aromatics, naphthenics and isoparaffins using transition metal functionalized zeolite based catalyst

Abstract

Hydrocarbon composition plays vital role in fuel quality. For gasoline/motor spirit applications the hydrocarbon should have more octane-possessing molecules from the groups of aromatics, naphthenics and isoparaffins, while n-paraffins are not preferred due to their poor octane. Among the high-octane groups, again aromatics occupy the top but not more than 35 vol % aromatics can be mixed in gasoline for engine applications to avoid harmful emission, But there is no single process that addresses so far the issue of co-producing all the desired hydrocarbon components in a single process. Thus, it is interesting to have a single once-through process working on single catalyst system to produce mixture of all three high-octane molecules namely, aromatics, naphthenics and isoparaffins directly from low-value, low-octane n-paraffin feed. Herein, we report a novel single-step catalytic process for the simultaneous production of aromatics, naphthenics and isoparaffins for gasoline and petrochemical applications.