Ethanol and the Race to Higher Octane Standards in the US: Fuel for Thought

by Herman Wang (Platts) With the US likely to raise the gasoline octane standard in the next decade or so to achieve greenhouse-gas emissions regulations and fuel efficiency targets, the domestic ethanol industry is promoting its product as the most cost-effective and environmentally friendly way to meet those higher requirements.

In fact, that was the main thrust of the Renewable Fuels Association’s National Ethanol Conference in New Orleans last week. While the conference in recent years has focused primarily on the regulatory uncertainty surrounding the US biofuels blending mandate, this year’s stressed the need to look beyond that statute for growth.

And one way the RFA aims to do that is to highlight ethanol’s octane benefits, given its price and environmental advantages to petroleum-based additives, such as alkylate and reformate.

“The world is octane short, and with a blending octane rating of 113, ethanol offers more engine knock resistance per dollar than any other gasoline additive on the planet,” RFA President Bob Dinneen said in his state of the industry address.

In tandem with raising the octane of gasoline, automakers could redesign their engines to improve their compression ratio to further enhance efficiency.

Ethanol also has a higher Reid Vapor Pressure than some other blendstocks, which makes it more challenging to meet the Environmental Protection Agency’s summer gasoline specifications.

On the other hand, using reformate or alkylate to boost octane would require refineries to invest significantly in their capacity to produce those blendstocks, which are significantly more expensive than gasoline.

Valero, Marathon Petroleum and other US refiners have already announced plans to increase alkylation production to take advantage of strong demand and sizable margins.

Platts has assessed alkylate FOB Houston as high as 38 cents/gal above Gulf Coast conventional pipeline gasoline in recent days, while reformate FOB Houston has been assessed as high as 65 cents above Gulf Coast gasoline. READ MORE