PROSPECTS AND PROBLEMS IN THE USE OF TRADITIONAL MOTOR FUELS

OPTIMIZATION OF OCTANE NUMBER REQUIREMENTS OF GASOLINES

AND POWER-TO-WEIGHT RATIO OF AUTOMOTIVE VEHICLES

V. S. Azev, V. A. Gladkikh, UDC 665.633.003

F. V. Smal', and V. I. Tyukov

The history of increases in the quality and efficiency of use of automotive gasoline is
related mainly to increases in knock resistance to meet the requirements of the automotive
industry. This has been seen previously as one of the main paths for the design of engines
with higher compression ratio, efficiency, power-to-displacement ratio, and fuel economy.
In the U.S., the octane number of the principal grades of automotive gasoline increased
from 91-97 in 1958 to 94-103 (Research) in 1970. In the USSR, the octane number has in-
creased in the last 35 years from 66-74 to 76-89 (Motor Method) or 80-98 (Research) (along
with this, rather large amounts of A-72 gasoline continued to be produced). Along with the
steady increase in knock resistance of gasolines, automotive engines have increased in power
-- for better performance in passenger cars and for higher load-carrying capacity in trucks.
The worldwide trend toward higher knock resistance of gasolines that was observed up to the
mid-1970s, i.e., during the period rapid growth in oil production and refining, was economi-
cally justified. The relatively small increase in costs in the operation of automotive
transport with high-performance engines due to the increase in the consumption of low-cost
fuel was compensated by the substantial advantages gained in comfort and performance in pas-
senger cars and in the load-carrying capacity of trucks.
Now that there has been a sharp drop in the rates of oil production and considerable in-
creases in cost, all-round economy in fuel and energy resources has become increasingly im-

TABLE 1

Consumption
of petroleum Octane
fractions in number
production (~) of
Process of automotive automotive
gasoline com- gasoiine
ponents, kg components
standard fuel
per metric
ton

Primary 9! 56--60
distillation
l~ermal 294 68
cracking
Catalytic 280 78--86
reforming
Catalytic 428/373 76--78/80
cracking
Hydro- 316--380 70
cracking
Isomeri- 450: 85
zation
Alkylation 765 91

Note. In figures for catalytic

cracking, the first value rep-
resents averaged data for crack-
ers of the 43-102 and IA/IM
types; the second value repre-
sents data for crackers of the
43-107 type.

Translated from Khimiya i Tekhno!ogiya Topliv i Masel, No. Ii, pp. 4-7, November, 1985.

0009-3092/85/1112-0547509o50 9 1986 Plenum Publishing Corporation 547

 Z LZ 2
iI ons$,mlption o~" petroleum
C ............
l~racc~ons t~g) ~o pro-
Gasollne[duce I kg of ~asolzne
I 1~ d I
A-OO
1,2,
AI'93' 1,36 1,44
-*Octane number 85 (MM).

I
o= 0,38
0

OJ5

Ca.,
O,3Z

O,2S Z
o ~ 0j85
65 75 8S 65 75 85
Octane number (~) Octane number (~)
Fig. i Fig. 2
Fig. i. Average minimum specific gasoline consumption in
Soviet carburetor engines as a function of gasoline octane
number.
Fig. 2. Specific consumption of petroleum raw material in
operation of engines, as a function of gasoline octane num-
ber: I) unleaded; 2) leaded.

portant, as indicated by the worldwide trend toward the development of lighter automotive ve-
hicles.
In selecting directions to take in saving fuel, an important role is assigned to the
combined approach in evaluating the efficiency of energy resource utilization, primarily pe-
troleum resources; in particular, the consumption of crude oil in producing gasolines with
higher knock resistance is compared with the specific consumption of such gasolines by the
engines.
Raising the knock resistance of gasolines requires the increased use of energy-consum-
ing secondary refining processes that produce rather large amounts of dry gas, which is used
mainly as boiler and furnace fuel. Catalytic cracking and hydrocracklng processes, which
have increased steadily in terms of capacity relative to total crude oil processing capacity,
are aimed primarily at increasing the yields of light products, particularly gasoline, by
processing heavy distillates; catalytic reforming, which is today the principal process used
to manufacture high-octane gasolines, is aimed primarily at increasing the octane number of
the naphtha cuts and producing hydrogen for use in hydrogenation Processes.
The specific energy consumption in the production of automotive gasoline components in
various processes, calculated for the entire sequence of stages in processing petroleum cuts,
are listed in Table I. On the basis of the actual component composition of several tens of
9 gasoline samples in the principal grades produced in Soviet refineries, and also on the ba-
sis of the prospective component composition of gasolines, with an accounting for the energy
consumption in carrying out the respective processes, the average relative consumption of pe-
troleum fractions (in kg) has been calculated for the production of i k g o f gasoline with
various octane numbers (Table 2). In the calculation it was assumed that all of the energy
consumption is compensated by the products from processing the crude oii.
Let us now analyze the efficiency of utilization of gasolines with various octane num-
bers (Fig. l) by mass-produced Soviet carburetor engines manufactured in the period 1932-
1982, and also the advanced-design front-wheel drive automobiles VAZ and Moskvich. With a

548
 TABLE 3
U.S. p~oduction
Passenger volume, % of total
cars

Subcompact 8,3 " 6,3 18,6

Compact 17,9 28,4 27,0
Interme- 26,3 34,1 83,6
diate
class
Total 52,5 68,8 79,2
I

I D P.,

~ II0 .....
o~
O~
I
8O
k~.,-I ! "2
,,-I .IJ ~
.'40O0
O ~O.~4
40
55 65 75 85 55 6S 75 85
Octan4 number (NH) Octane number (MM)
Fig. 3 Fig. 4
Fig. 3. Specific gasoline consumption per 1,000tonne-km of
truck operation, as a function of gasoline octane number:
i) for trucks with 4 • 2 wheel arrangement; 2) for trucks
with 6 x 4 and 6 x 6 wheel arrangement.
Fig. 4. Efficiency of utilization of petroleum raw material
as a function of octane number of gasoline used in carbure-
tor-engine trucks: i) unleaded; 2) leaded.

changeover from A-66 to A-72 gasoline, i.e., with a 6-point increase in octane number, the
specific consumption of gasoline drops from 0.369 to 0.328 kg/(kW.h), i.e., approximately
11%. When the octane number is raised another 13 points and when the advanced engines are
produced, the specific fuel consumption drops from 0.328 to 0.292 kg/(kW.h), i.e., another
11%, but in this case with twice the increase in octane number. Thus, the r~lative effi-
ciency of lowering the gasoline fuel consumption drops off with increasing kpock resistance.
The optimal octane number of gasoline, with an accounting for its specific consumption
in engines, can be determined on the basis of the index Kef , defined as the consumption of
petroleum fractions (in kg) per kW'h of engine operation. This index can be determined by
multiplying the consumption of petroleum fractions in producing gasoline w$th a given octane
number (see Table 2) by the specific consumption of this gasoline in the engine (see Fig. i).
The dependence of Kef on octane number for leaded and unleaded gasolines is shown in
Fig. 2. It will be seen that, from the standpoint of efficiency of utilization of petroleum
resources, the most economical are leaded gasolines with an octane number of 78-80 (MM) or
86-88 (Research), and unleaded gasolines with an octane number of 74-76 (MM) or 80-82 (Re-
search). The consumption of petroleum fractions in producing leaded g~soline with the opti-
mal octane number is 3-4% lower than in producing unleaded gasolines, likewise with the opti-
mal octane number. For gasolines with an octane number of 85 (MM) or 93 (Research), this
difference increases to 6-7%.
For a more objective determination of the optimum knock resistance of gasolines, let us
examine the relationship between the specific gasoline consumption in 1,000 tonne-km of use-
ful operation of trucks with various wheel arrangements, on gasolines differing in octane
number (Fig. 3). These data were obtained by analyzing the performanGe characteristics of
various models of Soviet gasoline-powered trucks, beginning with the GAE-AA. As can be seen
from the curves in Fig. 3, the specific gasoline consumption drops off considerably as the
octane number (MM) is raised from 66 to 76. With a further increase in the octane number,

549
 TABLE 4
I Models of Moskvich line
Index

Gasoline used A-66 A-70 A-72 A-76 A-76 AI 93AI-93

Compression ratio 6,4 7,1 7,0 7,0 7,0 8,8 8,8
Power Ne, kW 19,1 25,7 33,1 36,8 36,8 55,1 55,1
Curb weight G~ k ~ ' 855 980 990 1010 1080 1045 1080
Power-to-weightratio (i00 2,2 2,6 4,6 3,65 3,4 5,3 5,1
Ne/G), kW/100 kg
Fuel consumption (at 80 km/h)~ 9,7 8,0 8,2 7,8 8,1 7,8 8,3
liters/lO0 km
Distance traveled (at 80 12,9 15,2 14,6 15,0 14,4 14,2 13,3
km/h), kmper Kg of petroleum
raw material

i.e., a changeover to AI-93 in vehicles designed for operation on this gasoline, the spe-
cific fuel consumption decreases very little.
We will take as a criterion of the efficiency of application of gasolinesdifferlng in
knock resistance, in trucks with various wheel arrangements, the consumption of petroleum
raw material in producing the fuel, referred to 1,000 tonne-km of useful operation. In this
case, the lowest specific consumption of petroleum raw material is achieved when using gaso-
lines with 72-76 MMON in the trucks (Fig. 4).
Considering the results obtained in evaluating the optimal level of knock resistance of
gasoline for the most economical consumption of petroleum raw material, and in order to en-
sure progress in engine design (particularly in designing new gasoline engines for front-
wheel-drive passenger cars), it appears desirable to plan for the production of two main
grades of automotive gasoline: AI-82 unleaded with 82 RON or 76-78 MMON for trucks and most
passenger cars, and AI-90 unleaded with 90 RON and leaded (tetraethyllead or tetramethyllead)
with 92-93 or 91 RON, respectively, for passenger cars that are competitive in the world
market and for future passenger cars.
Another important direction in conservation of petroleum raw material in gasoline pro-
duction is the optimization of the power-to-weight ratio in the automotive vehicle, which
has a direct effect on the volume o f gasoline consumed. In the U.S., the fuel economy of do-
mestic and imported passenger cars was 19% higher in 1983 than in 1980, and the 1984 level
was almost twice as high; the engine fuel consumption in 1983 averaged 8.4 liters per i00 km
in comparison with values of I0 in 1980 and 16.5 in 1974 (based on 45 km of travel on roads
outside the city and 55 km within the city).
The power-to-weight ratio of modern automotive vehicles, which determines their dynamic
and speed qualities, is in the range of 4-8 kW per i00 kg curb weight of the vehicle. There-
fore, any reduction of the curb weight has a direct effect on the economy indexes of the ve-
hicle. Even in the U.S., a country that has traditionally produced large automobiles with
powerful engines, the industry structure in the production of passenger cars is changing to-
ward the output of small models (Table 3). In the USSR, no automobiles are produced with
curb weight less than 827.5 kg. In the highly developedcapltalistlc countries, such vehi-
cles accounted for 16-25% of the total production in 1980.
In Table 4 we show the dynamics of change in the basic indexes of automobiles of the
Moskvich group. With a continuous increase in the gasoline octane number requirement, the
curb weight and the power-to-weight ratiohave increased. As a result, the fuel consumption
for models from 402 to 2140, which have been developed over a 25-year period, have remained
practically unchanged when compared under same operating conditions.
When the increasing consumption of petroleum fractions in the production of higher-oc-
tane gasolines is taken into account, as well as th@ dynamics of change in automotive and en-
g i n e operating indexes (see Table 4), we find that the maximum distance travelled per kg of
petroleum raw material has been achieved by automobile~ operating on A-72 and A-76 gasolines.
On this basis, we can conclude that in the interest of conservation of petroleum resources,
all aspects of the problem must be considered in optimizing the curb weight and power-to-
weight ratio of automotive vehicles and the octane number of gasolines.

550