Firing Excess Refinery Butane in Peaking Gas Turbines

New environmentally-driven regulations for motor gasoline volatility will significantly alter refinery light ends supply/demand balancing. This, in turn, will impact refinery economics. This paper presumes that one outcome will be excess refinery normal butane production, which will reduce refinery normal butane value and price. Explored is an opportunity for a new use for excess refinery normal butane- as a fuel for utility peaking gas turbines which currently fire kerosene and #2 oil. Our paper identifies the fundamental driving forces which are changing refinery butane economics, examines how these forces influence refinery production, and evaluates the potential for using normal butanes as peaking utility gas turbine fuel, especially on the US East Coast