Pre-engine converter
AssigneeMobil Oil Corporation
InventorNai Yuen Chen
Life of this patent
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Abstract
In pre-engine converters, a low octane fuel is contacted with a catalyst bed at high temperature cracking conditions to produce a gaseous product of substantially higher octane which is then fed, together with air, directly to an internal combustion engine. This improvement mixes oxygen with the fed fuel and uses a ZSM-5 zeolite alone or mixed with an oxidation catalyst for the conversion.
Claims7
In the process of converting low octane normally liquid hydrocarbons to higher octane normally gaseous hydrocarbons by contacting said liquid hydrocarbons with a hydrocarbon cracking catalyst under cracking conditions, mixing the resulting gaseous hydrocarbon product with an oxygen-containing gas, and generating power by burning said gaseous hydrocarbon with said oxygen in an internal combustion engine;
- the improvement which comprises contacting said low octane normally liquid hydrocarbons with a controlled amount of an oxygen-containing gas in the presence of a hydrocarbon cracking catalyst, said controlled amount of said oxygen-containing gas being an amount sufficient to burn only a portion of said liquid hydrocarbons and provide a gaseous effluent comprising hydrocarbons of higher octane value than said normally liquid hydrocarbons, and said hydrocarbon cracking catalyst comprising a crystalline aluminosilicate zeolite having a silica to alumina ratio of at least 12, a constraint index of 1 to 12 and a crystal density not substantially below about 1.6 grams per cubic centimeter;
- mixing the resultant gaseous hydrocarbon effluent with an oxygen-containing gas in amount sufficient to burn said gaseous hydrocarbons;
- and passing the resulting mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons and oxygen-containing gas to said internal combustion engine.
A pre-engine converter comprising a reactor chamber;
- a zeolite catalyst therein, said zeolite having a silica to alumina ratio of at least 12, a constraint index of 1 to 12 and a crystal density of not substantially below about 1.6 grams per cubic centimeter;
- means for feeding a low octane number normally liquid hydrocarbon to said chamber;
- means for feeding to said hydrocarbon feed an oxygen-containing gas in about stoichiometric proportions for burning said hydrocarbon feed;
- means for splitting said oxygen-containing gas into a controlled portion stoichiometrically sufficient to burn only a portion of said hydrocarbon feed, means for mixing said controlled portion of oxygen-containing gas with said hydrocarbon feed to be contacted with said catalyst in said chamber;
- means for withdrawing from said chamber a product stream comprising gaseous light hydrocarbons of higher octane number and combustion products of said feed hydrocarbons;
- means for mixing said product stream with the remainder of said oxygen-containing gas;
- and means for feeding the resulting mixture containing the remainder of the oxygen-containing gas to an internal combustion engine.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.