(370a) Blending Optimization of Low-Vapor-Pressure Gasoline-Range Bio-Blendstocks: Linking Economic Values to Fuel Properties

Biomass derived biocrude or bio-oil can be directly upgraded into transportation fuels but subject to high cost penalty and product yield loss associated with deoxygenation. Adding non-traditional blendstocks derived from biomass into gasoline has gained renewed interest since it will avoid expensive deoxygenation processes, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, potentially enhance fuel properties and boost engine efficiencies. A competitive bio-blendstock candidate should have either lower prices or superior properties or both relative to conventional gasoline blending components. Note that gasoline is a mixture of hundreds of compounds specified by properties rather than compositions. The addition of bio-blendstocks, most likely oxygenates, will modify the property mixing rules due to the non-ideal interactions between polar and nonpolar components. In this talk, we will present an equation-of-state-based model for predicting Reid vapor pressure, reduced order non-linear property blending models for computing key properties of final gasoline products, a blending optimization approach to evaluate the economic value of bio-blendstocks to petroleum refiners and to identify the key fuel properties that drive economics, as well as an uncertainty analysis regarding property model and economic assumptions. In additional to ethanol, six low-vapor-pressure bio-blendstock candidates were evaluated in this work: i-propanol, n-propanol, i-butanol, diisobutylene, cyclopentanone, and a mixture of furans.