Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 15
By Fatih Karimov – Trend:
Iran will fully eliminate the methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) additive from its gasoline, Aki Shirazizadeh, head of research and development department at the National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company (NIORDC), said.
Considering the MTBE’s negative environmental effects, its fully removal from the domestically produced gasoline is on the agenda, Shirazizadeh said, Mehr news agency reported Oct. 15.
MTBE is an oxygenated chemical added to gasoline after removal of lead to improve combustion and increase octane number.
Iran used to import 40 percent of its needed gasoline by 2009. But the international sanctions forced it to produce gasoline domestically by adding lead or some poisonous chemical catalysts, such as MTBE to the product.
While MTBE has been replaced by ethanol in the US after it contaminated drinking water, other countries still use it. Its offensive odour and taste can render water undrinkable, while its health effects are unclear.
Shirazizadeh further said that Iran produces some 27 million liters of Euro 4 gasoline per day at the moment, adding that sulphur content of Euro 4 gasoline is significantly low.
The volume of other contaminating contents of gasoline, including benzene, olefins and aromatics has been decreased, he said.
Iran produced 62.5 million liters of gasoline per day, while its consumption stood at 70.8 million liters per day last year.