(169b) Options for Gasoline Pool Benzene Management

Demand for gasoline in North America continues to increase. On-stream factors are at historically high levels. Refiners face pressures to maximize gasoline yield while optimizing overall complex profitability. New benzene regulations will cause refiners to again consider optimization of their naphtha complex. Meeting these demands with maximum profitability will require optimization across multiple units of the naphtha complex.

New EPA regulations under Mobile Sources Air Toxics Phase 2 (MSAT2) will reduce benzene in the U.S. gasoline pool to 0.62 vol-% by 2011. Previous gasoline regulations focused on reducing benzene to less than 1.0 vol-% in RFG, around 30 to 35 % of the U.S. gasoline pool. Benzene in conventional gasoline, the rest of the U.S. gasoline pool, is currently controlled more indirectly through anti backsliding regulations that limit benzene via exhaust toxics tied, in most cases, to the refinery's MSAT Phase 1 baseline. These new regulations will require most refiners to address benzene issues because their current controls may not be adequate to meet the new lower benzene limit.