Chemistry and Technology of Fuels and Oils, Vol. 43, No.

4, 2007

CHEMMOTOLOGY

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE CHANGE IN THE PROPERTIES OF GASOLINES

DURING STORAGE

O. Burkhan and I. M. Kolesnikov UDC 665.633.25

The demand for gasolines with research octane numbers (RON) of 80, 90, 92, 95, and 98 is continuously
increasing with the increase in the world fleet of vehicles with carburetor engines. The volume of the demand is
more than 70% of the total demand for petroleum products.
Commercial gasolines are usually manufactured by mixing different naphtha cuts with high-octane
components of the type of oxygenates, aromatic concentrates, and additives of different chemical natures and
applications.
Naphtha cuts as components of commercial gasoline are manufactured in cat crackers, catalytic reforming
(with and without hydrogen), coking and pyrolysis, thermal cracking, and visbreaking units [1]. Naphtha cuts
containing no unsaturated hydrocarbons are only obtained in catalytic reforming of low-octane naphtha cuts on
Pt, Re/g-Al 2O 3 catalysts.
To create defined reserves of gasoline for different applications – automotive or aviation – are stored in
above-ground, semi-underground, and underground tanks [2]. These reserves are necessary in case of disruptions
in supplying gasoline for filling stations and for solving strategic and other problems.
Gasolines in tanks are usually under an air cushion in which some amount of saturated water vapor can be
present.
Atmospheric oxygen is dissolved in liquid gasoline according to the Henry–Dalton law and diffuses over
the entire volume by reacting with paraffins and alkylaromatic hydrocarbons, especially if the molecules of the
latter compounds contain a tertiary hydrogen atom (for example, with isopropylbenzene), with formation of

____________________________________________________________________________________________________
I. M. Gubkin Russian State University of Oil and Gas. Translated from Khimiya i Tekhnologiya Topliv i
Masel, No. 4, pp. 19 – 20, July – August, 2007.

290 0009-3092/07/4301–0290 © 2007 Springer Science+Business Media, Inc.

hydroperoxides. Hydroperoxides, which are highly reactive compounds, react with paraffins, yielding unsaturated
hydrocarbons.
In subsequent depletion in hydrogen, unsaturated compounds, together with aromatic hydrocarbons,
undergo disproportionation, yielding gums and coke formations. The latter can be deposited on the walls or

Table 1
Gasoline
Indexes before after storage lasting for, days
storage 90 180 360 490 670
In southern region
Density at 15°С, kg/m3 735 740 743 745 747 749
Distillation, °С
IBP 42 42 35 33 38 39
10 % 60 59 58 56 58 48
50 % 100 86 91 86 87 82
90 % 150 159 158 157 155 153
EP 187 173 172 182 183 188
Content of resin, wt. % 0.03 0.5 0.85 0.87 0.94 1.1
Octane number (RON) 90.5 90.3 90.1 90 89.6 89.2
In northern region
Density at 15°С, kg/m3 735 737 743 744 745 748
Distillation, °С
IBP 42 36 36 38 42 44
10 % 60 58 57 58 59 60
50 % 100 104 97 85 95 98
90 % 150 170 170 171 174 175
EP 182 186 185 186 188 189
Content of resin, wt. % 0.03 0.4 0.6 0.74 1.12 1.33
Octane number (RON) 90.5 90.2 90 89.7 89.1 88.9
In eastern region
Density at 15°С, kg/m3 735 737 739 740 743 746
Distillation, °С
IBP 42 38 38 40 42 44
10 % 60 58 57 50 54 58
50 % 100 104 97 85 95 98
90 % 150 150 155 159 160 162
EP 182 173 178 179 182 184
Content of resin, wt. % 0.03 0.4 0.61 0.73 1.09 1.29
Octane number (RON) 90.5 90.4 90 89.7 89.5 89.1
In central region
Density at 15°С, kg/m3 725 728 731 736 745 752
Distillation, °С
IBP 42 43 41 45 44 45
10 % 60 63 61 88 70 91
50 % 150 161 158 152 156 158
90 % 181 186 188 190 191 192
EP 190 191 190 194 196 198
Content of resin, wt. % 0.03 0.06 0.72 0.88 1.24 1.36
Octane number (RON) 91.4 90.4 90 89.6 89.1 88.8

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accumulate on the bottom of the tanks. In addition, the gums can be distributed in gasoline in the form of a
disperse phase, turning it brown, i.e., worsening its color.
A decrease in the isoparaffin and alkylaromatic hydrocarbon content will decrease the octane number of
gasolines and alter their physicochemical properties.
We investigated the characteristics of the change in the physicochemical properties of commercial
gasoline* in prolonged storage in underground tanks in the southern, northern, eastern, and central regions of
Syria. Samples of gasoline from different storage periods were collected from the tanks in the amount of 1 cm 3.
Standard methods were used to determine their physicochemical properties.
The initial gasoline contained 45% aromatic and less than 1% unsaturated hydrocarbons. The
physicochemical properties were initially investigated after different storage times in tanks in the southern region.
As the results of the studies reported in Table 1 show, the density increased from 735 to 749 kg/m 3 , the octane
number decreased from 90.5 to 89.2, and the gum content increased from 0.03 to 1.1 wt. % with an increase in the
duration of storage of the gasoline.
At the end of two years of storage, the quality of the gasoline thus worsened. It was necessary to add
additives or reformate with a RON within the limits of 92-94 to restore the gasoline.
The characteristics of the change in the physicochemical properties of the gasoline stored in underground
tanks in the north of the country persisted (see Table 1): with an increase in the storage time, the density
increased from 735 to 748 kg/m 3 , the gum content increased from 0.03 to 1.33 wt. %, and the octane number
decreased, but slightly less significantly – by 1.7 point. To restore the octane number, it was necessary to add
antiknocks or high-octane reformate (or aromatic concentrates) to the gasoline.
In storage of gasoline in underground tanks in the east of the country, its physicochemical properties
changed more slowly (see Table 1), but the characteristics of the change were the same: the octane number
decreased, and the density and gum content increased.
In the tanks located in the central region of the country, the characteristics of the change in the
physicochemical properties of the gasoline in prolonged storage were also the same. However, the decrease in the
octane number and increase in the density and gum content were more important in this region in comparison to
the others.
This was due to the higher average annual temperature in this region and consequently heating of the
upper layer of gasoline. The degree of its oxidation increased as a result, and disproportionation with accumulation
of gums and a decrease in the isoparaffin content began to take place.
In storing gasolines in underground tanks in different regions of Syria, the characteristics of the change
in their physicochemical properties were thus qualitatively the same. However, the octane number and density, as
well as distillation of the gasolines, changed more significantly in the central region of the country.

REFERENCES
1. A. Abugri, Candidate Dissertation, M. M. Gubkin Moscow Institute of Oil and Gas, Moscow (1986).
2. V. A. Mazurov, Underground Gas and Oil Depots in Rock Salt Deposits [in Russian], Nedra, Moscow
(1982).

*Obtained at the oil refinery in Baniyas.

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