Patent ID: 7339086

Claim:
A process for the production of high-octane hydrocarbons, which comprises: a) dimerizing isobutene that is present in a C 4 cut of a hydrocarbon stream in a dimerization reactor; b) distilling said hydrocarbon stream containing dimerized isobutene in a first distillation column from whose head C 4 products are recovered and from the bottom of which a C 8 -C 16 mixture is recovered as an effluent; c) distilling said effluent in a second distillation column from whose head pure C 8 olefins with a small quantity of sulfur are recovered and from whose bottom a stream comprising most of the sulfur and concentrated contaminants is obtained; d) hydrogenating the stream containing the C 8 olefins with a nickel or a noble metal based catalyst; e) hydrogenating said stream rich in sulfur over a sulfur resistant catalyst comprising a Ni/Mo and/or a Ni/Co catalyst; and f) optionally combining the two hydrogenation fractions so as to prepare a high-octane component, substantially sulfur-free, for fuels.