Methanol proves low-cost, sustainable option for gasoline blending
https://www.ogj.com/articles/print/volume-113/issue-3/processing/methanol-proves-low-cost-sustainable-option-for-gasoline-blending.html03/02/2015
...In the past, especially when carbureted engines represented the majority of motor vehicle fleets, oxygenated hydrocarbons such as methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) were added to gasoline to boost octane ratings as well as to suppress tail-pipe emissions, including carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxide, and miscellaneous light hydrocarbon ozone-smog inducers.5
While the use of MTBE initially was banned or restricted by several US states, these restrictions combined with the reformulated gasoline (RFG) mandate to create market forces that led to the complete elimination of MTBE for gasoline blending in the US.6
MTBE, however, remains widely used as a fuel additive in the rest of the world, including Europe and Israel.
The issue of boosting octane simply became a matter of economics, in which refiners evaluated high-octane blending components vs. alternative methods of raising octane levels, such as catalytic reforming of heavy naphtha, isomerization of light naphtha, and alkylation of butylene (C4) olefins with isobutylene (iso-C4) to produce iso-octane....
...Results of DOR's pilot tests on methanol-gasoline blends in Israel suggest methanol can provide at least a partial alternative to the exclusive use of conventional or reformulated gasoline, particularly for regions with abundant but seemingly stranded supplies of natural gas, such as the US.
While the economics of any necessary modifications required to accommodate the use of single-molecule, oxygenated fuel as an alternative to conventional gasoline will, of course, have to be evaluated case-by-case, the ability to satisfy regional energy demand with readily available, domestic natural resources provides strong economic incentives of its own.
Based on the methanol-gasoline pricing ratio as of early January 2015, at least in the US, replacing conventional gasoline with methanol is an economically marginal proposition. Based upon historical methanol-gasoline price ratios, however, a reduction of about 20% in unit energy costs could be achieved depending on the relative and fluctuating cost ratio of crude oil, as well as other global market factors, which include the business cycle of methanol's chemical derivatives.
Additionally, new technologies leading to a more economical recovery of shale gas currently employed in North America and emerging in China, Europe, and the rest of the world, would suggest shifting market forces that could further reduce the caloric cost ratio of methanol-gasoline blending.
To date, China is moving forward in securing its current energy demand by converting its domestic coal supplies into methanol, while several locations in North America are considering plans to convert petroleum coke into methanol....