Normal paraffins (n-paraffins) are linear, aliphatic hydrocarbons of C9-C17 chain lengths that are usually separated from kerosene or gas oil fractions of crude oil using molecular sieves. High levels of midrange n-paraffins, suitable for producing linear alkylbenzene (LAB), are produced at a gas-to-liquids (GTL) plant that started production in Qatar in 2011. The major end use for n-paraffins is as a raw material for producing olefins or monochloroparaffins to manufacture LAB.
LAB, almost all of which is converted to the surfactant linear alkylbenzene sulfonate (LAS) and its salts, accounted for over 70% of the world consumption of n-paraffins. Most of the remainder is sold to the chloroparaffin, detergent alcohol, solvent, and lubricant markets. The n-paraffin market will continue to be driven by LAB production.