Hydrocarbon Processing - March 2022 - 50

History of the HPI
powers' military operations was the ability
to produce refined fuels. Oil and refined
fuels were imperative during the war. Without
fuel (gasoline and aviation gasoline),
tanks could not run, planes would not fly,
battleships and other marine vessels are
trapped in port, and thousands of other
vehicles (e.g., jeeps) become obsolete. Oil
was also indispensable for lubricating guns
and machinery both in the field and to fuel
domestic industrial manufacturing.
The Allies-especially the U.S.-controlled
most of the world's oil production.
Conversely, Germany lacked any kind of
oil production, which was a major factor
that eventually led to its demise. However,
Germany did have a substantial amount
of coal reserves. To fuel its war machine,
Germany primarily used coal conversion
processes for synthetic-fuels manufacturing.
More than 90% of Germany's aviation
gasoline and half of its total domestic petroleum
products production came from
synthetic fuel plants.48
These plants primarily
used the Bergius process and the
Fischer-Tropsch process, among others.
Japan suffered from the same challenge
as Germany. The country had no oil production
and virtually no refining system
to produce fuels for its war effort. Japan
did have major coal reserves and tried to
venture into synthetic fuels production;
however, it lacked the technical expertise
and specific alloys and catalytic metals required
for synfuel production.49
Once the U.S.-the primary supplier
of oil and finished products to Japan-cut
off oil supplies to the island nation, Japan
began a strategic military offensive in the
South Pacific, seizing oil fields developed
by Royal Dutch Shell in the Dutch East
Indies (i.e., Indonesia) and Borneo, which
also contained 90% of the world's natural
supply of rubber.49
However, the Axis powFIG.
2. The British Spitfire used 100-octane
fuel-powered Rolls-Royce Merlin engines,
enabling them to gain a decisive advantage
over the German Luftwaffe during the Battle of
Britain in WW2. The U.S. significantly boosted
100-octane fuel production, enabling the Allies
to gain air superiority against the Axis powers.
Photo courtesy of the Imperial War Museum.
ers could not compete against the manufacturing
juggernaut of the Allied nations.
Several new technologies and initiatives
were integral in the Allied war effort
against the Axis powers. These included
the production of 100-octane aviation
gasoline, a boost in domestic refined fuels
capacity, a more efficient way to produce
pure toluene and cooperation for the development
of synthetic rubber.
100 octane: A decisive advantage
in aerial superiority. In the mid-1930s,
U.S. aviator Jimmy Doolittle joined Shell
Oil Co. as Aviation Manager. His primary
responsibility was to develop aviation fuels
for military and civilian applications.
Up until this time, both automobiles and
aircraft ran off 87-octane gasoline levels.
However, the lower-rated fuel severely affected
aircraft engine performance, negatively
impacting speed, climb rate, service
ceiling and overall performance, especially
at higher altitudes. Higher octane aviation
gasoline (i.e., 100 octane) could fuel
high-performance aircraft engines, boosting
the performance of fighter planes.
After lobbying the U.S. Congress,
FIG. 3. WW2 poster stressing the importance of
high-octane aviation fuel. Spoken by U.S. Chief
of Naval Operations Ernest King, the slogan
" Oil is ammunition " was used for promotional
posters during the conflict. Source: U.S.
National Archives and Records Administration.
50 MARCH 2022 | HydrocarbonProcessing.com
Doolittle convinced the U.S. Army to
adopt 100-octane aviation fuel as the
standard fuel for aircraft. However, the
fuel was extremely expensive to produce
and prohibitively high to sell-the cost
of 100-octane fuel was approximately
$20/gal vs. less than $0.20/gal for regular
automobile gasoline.50
The solution to
this challenge came from a new process in
operation at the Marcus Hook refinery in
Pennsylvania (U.S.). The process was a
catalytic cracking process developed by a
French engineer: Eugene Houdry.
The Houdry process was greatly enhanced
by octane-boosting processes,
the most notable being invented by Russian-born
chemists Herman Pines and
Vladimir Ipatieff. Ipatieff, the Director of
Chemical Research at Universal Oil Products
(UOP) and a professor at Northwestern
University in Chicago, was responsible
for the development of solid phosphoric
acid-a highly active refining catalyst
created by treating silica with phosphoric
acid.51
The catalyst was instrumental in
increasing octane levels of gasoline. Ipatieff
worked closely with fellow UOP colleague
Herman Pines in the 1930s. The
pair were instrumental in developing new
polymerization, alkylation of aromatic
compounds (i.e., alkylation)-Phillips
(later called ConocoPhillips) invented
the hydrofluoric acid (HF) alkylation process
in the early 1940s to produce highoctane
aviation gasoline52
-and isomerization
of paraffins (i.e., isomerization) to
boost octane levels in aviation gasoline
to 100. These new processes enabled the
U.S. refining industry to produce affordable
high-octane aviation gasoline, which
would play a decisive role in WW2.
By 1940, the U.S. was producing more
than 4.2 MMgpm of 100-octane aviation
gasoline53
-the standard fuel for the U.S.
Air Force (referred to as the U.S. Army Air
Corp prior to entrance in WW2). As war
was declared in Europe, the U.S. gained
its first customer for 100-octane aviation
gasoline: Great Britain. The high-octane
fuel powered Rolls-Royce Merlin engines
inside British Hurricane and Spitfire fighter
jets (FIG. 2), enabling them to gain a
decisive advantage over the German Luftwaffe-most
of Germany's fighter jets
ran on 87-octane aviation gasoline. The
100-octane aviation fuel was an invaluable
asset that helped Britain push back German
air attacks during the Battle of Britain
and aided Allied powers in establishing air
superiority (FIG. 3).
TNT. Trinitrotoluene (TNT) was first
discovered by German chemist Julius Wilbrand
in 1863. However, the first use of the
material was for yellow dye. Approximately
30 yr later, German chemist Carl Häussermann
discovered its explosive properties.54
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