TEHRAN (ecoideal)- Iran has taken measure at the oldest oil refinery in the Middle-East to produce high-octane gasoline, and joined the world club of green gasoline producers after its launch.
The production of alkylate gasoline, a type of very high-octane gasoline, restarted in Abadan refinery in Southern Iran as of December 24 after a six-year hiatus.
Iran is at present producing 600,000 to 1mln liters of alkylate gasoline daily at the refinery and officials predict that the amount would increase up to 2mln liters in Abadan refinery, the oldest refining complex in the Middle-East.
Alkylate gasoline, often referred to as environmental gasoline or green gasoline, does not contain any aromatics or olefins which, among other things, means that carcinogenic emissions are reduced by up to 90%.
The gasoline whose octane number stand at 96 also helps reduce nitrogen oxide emissions and lessens its contribution to ground-level ozone. Alkylate gasoline contains no ethanol at all, not even the 5-10% that commercial gasoline contains.
Comparing alkylate and Euro-4 quality gasoline, Euro-4 and premium gas have octane ratings of 91 and 95 respectively.
Alkylate gasoline also has a much longer shelf-life than commercial gasoline and the regular gasoline such as 95 octane gasoline, for example, starts to change after just three months, while alkylate gasoline can be stored for several years.
Alkylation technology is an advanced sulfuric acid alkylation process that operates at significantly lower temperatures than conventional technology—below 0°C.
Octane rating or octane number is a standard measure of the performance of an engine or aviation fuel. In simple terms, higher octane number indicates higher quality of gasoline.
When the first phase of Persian Gulf Star Refinery was inaugurated by President Hassan Rouhani on April 30, 2017, Iran said it is now self-sufficient in gasoline production.
“By inaugurating the first phase of this refinery an old dream came true. We are self-sufficient in gasoline production and in near future we will be able to export,” Rouhani said in the inaugural ceremony of the first phase.
The second phase of the refinery is scheduled to be completed by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20, 2018) adding 12 million liters of Euro 5 gasoline to Iran’s capacity of the product.
Source: Farsnews