Isopropanol as a Renewable Additive in Gasoline Blends: Enhancing Octane Ratings for Sustainable Fuel Solutions

Article Isopropanol as a Renewable Additive in Gasoline Blends: Enhancing Octane Ratings for Sustainable Fuel Solutions Tamer M. M. Abdellatief 1,2,*, Ahmad Mustafa 3 and Xiongbo Duan 4 1 Sustainable Energy & Power Systems Research Centre, RISE, University of Sharjah, Sharjah P.O. Box 27272, United Arab Emirates 2 Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Minia University, EL-Minia 61519, Egypt 3 Center of Excellence, October University for Modern Sciences and Arts (MSA), Giza 12566, Egypt 4 School of Energy Science and Engineering, Central South University, Changsha 410083, China * Correspondence: [email protected] Received: 30 January 2025; Revised: 17 March 2025; Accepted: 21 April 2025; Published: 7 May 2025 Abstract: This study explored the effect of isopropanol on Research Octane Number (RON) and Motor Octane Number (MON) of different gasoline constituents, such as reformate, isomerate, light straight-run naphtha (LSRN), and heavy straight-run naphtha (HSRN). Considering its high intrinsic octane values, isopropanol was mixed with different volumetric concentrations of each gasoline to assess its potential as an octane booster. Using normal ASTM procedures, the RON and MON of each blend were assessed. The findings showed that the octane levels of all base fuels had significantly increased. LSRN and HSRN showed the biggest gains, while isomerate and reformate showed very modest improvements. It was discovered that adding isopropanol enhanced the mixes’ anti-knock capabilities, making them more appropriate for contemporary high-compression engines. The study also emphasizes how crucial it is to optimize blending ratios to balance the increase in octane with other gasoline characteristics like stability and volatility. The experimental results reported that fuel blends’ antidetonation performance, as determined by their octane number, varies in the following order: isopropanol > reformate > isomerate > light straight run naphtha > heavy straight run naphtha by octane number. Finally, isopropanol may be a useful and sustainable additive for raising the octane level of gasoline, improving fuel economy and lessening engine knocking.