EFFICIENT CATALYTIC PROCESSES FOR THE MANUFACTURING OF HIGH-QUALITY TRANSPORTATION FUELS

Manufacturing of transportation fuels incorporates a number of generat ions of technology, viz. (1) refining processes to arrive at the desir ed product quality, (2) conversion processes to balance the feedstock supply with the product demand, (3) processes to steer product composi tion and (4) synthetic fuels. In going from (1) to (4), the thermal ef ficiency of the processes tends to decrease and is affected by a numbe r of (process) principles which are discussed here. Recent progress an d future needs are discussed for all four areas of fuel manufacturing.