Patent 7294253 was granted and assigned to Sasol on November, 2007 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
This invention relates to process for producing middle distillates having good cold flow properties, such as the Cold Filter Plugging Point (CFPP) measured in accordance with the IP method 309, and a high Cetane number, as well as to a process for production of such distillates. More particularly, this invention relates to a process in which middle distillates are produced from a mainly paraffinic synthetic crude which is produced by the reaction of CO and H2, typically by the Fischer-Tropsch (FT) process. The middle distillates produced by the process of the invention are predominantly isoparaffinic, the isoparaffins being methyl, ethyl and/or propyl branched.