A sulfur-contaminated ionic liquid catalyst is provided comprising 300 to 20,000 wppm of sulfur from a contaminant, wherein the catalyst is a chloroaluminate and it alkylates olefin and isoparaffin to make an alkylate gasoline blending component having a FBP below 221 C. A process is provided for making the alkylate gasoline blending component, comprising: a. feeding olefin feed comprising greater than 80 wppm of sulfur contaminant to a chloroaluminate ionic liquid catalyst, to make a sulfur-contaminated catalyst; and b. alkylating olefin feed with isoparaffin to make the alkylate gasoline blending component. A method to construct a refinery alkylation unit is provided comprising installing an ionic liquid alkylation reactor having an inlet that feeds a pure coker LPG olefin. An alkylation process exclusively utilizing coker LPG olefins is also provided.

The present disclosure relates generally to processes and systems for producing liquid transportation fuels by converting a feed stream that predominantly comprises isobutane. The feed stream is catalytically-activated in two separate reaction zones arranged in series in a manner that minimizes the production of C1-C3 light paraffins and is tolerant to the presence of typical catalyst poisons. The first reaction zone is selective for conversion of the feed stream to predominantly olefins and some aromatics. The second reaction zone is maintained at a lower temperature and a higher pressure and is selective for converting olefins to monocyclic aromatics which facilitates further feed stream olefination. Certain embodiments contact the activation effluent with an alkylation catalyst to provide enhanced yields of upgraded hydrocarbon products that meet specifications for a transportation fuel blend component.