Octane enhancers

Straight run gasoline produced by refineries may, or may not, meet the minimum octane number required by the specifications, depending on the quality of crude petroleum and the refinery process. Thus, refiners add octane enhancers, or boosters, to ensure the minimum requirements are met.

Many types of octane enhancer are used by refiners:

Methyl tert-butyl ether is currently the most used in many countries, while ethanol is commonly used in countries with a mature sugar industry.

This section provides an overview of octane enhancers found in Australia’s gasoline samples.