Sulfuric acid (H2SO4) is the largest volume commodity chemical in use today.It plays some part in the production ofnearly all manufactured goods. One large use of concentrated sulfuric acid is used as a catalyst for refinery alkylationunits.Intheseunits,C3-C5olefinssuchaspropyleneorbutylenearereactedwithisobutanetoformgasoline-blendingcomponents such as isoheptane and isooctane.These gasoline-blending components are used to boost octane forautomobileandaviationfuels.
Most refineries have an alkylation unit that uses either hydrofluoric acid (HF) or sulfuric acid as the alkylation catalyst.Thisstandarddealswithspentsulfuricacidassociatedwiththesulfuricacidalkylationprocessonly.