Fuel and related compositions – Liquid fuels – Containing organic -c
Reexamination Certificate
2000-04-11
2001-02-06
Medley, Margaret (Department: 1714)
Fuel and related compositions
Liquid fuels
Containing organic -c
C044S386000, C044S418000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06183524
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a fuel additive. More specifically, the invention relates to a polymer useful as a fuel additive, and a method of making and using the same.
2. Brief Description of Related Technology
Numerous fuel additives are available for gasoline and diesel fuels. Currently, different fuel additives are required to enhance different properties of a given fuel and/or to address environmental concerns such as emissions reduction, fuel efficiency, water contamination, and engine degradation. With the advent of oxygenated fuels, alternative fuels, and engineered fuels, different fuel additives must be developed to account for the various characteristics inherent in these new fuels. However, there is no one single fuel additive currently designed to address multiple performance and regulatory issues simultaneously in a cost effective manner.
Conventional fuel additives for use with gasoline and diesel fuels are designed to behave as a detergent, a surfactant, or a lubricating agent. Because of their design, such fuel additives have a limited range of application. Furthermore, larger quantities and a large variety of additives are necessary to enhance multiple properties of a given fuel.
Conventional additives using surfactants or detergents are directed to enhancing emulsification or dispersion characteristics of a fuel. Although the use of surface active agents in conventional gasoline and diesel fuel is useful when, for example, it is necessary or desirable to improve the interaction between polar and non-polar media such as between oil and water or oil and a solid, the use of surface active agents in an oxygenated fuel, an alternative fuel and an engineered fuel has been limited due to instability problems inherent in combining surface active agents with such fuels. Furthermore, the use of fuel additives in such fuel systems has been limited due to economic constraints and due to lack of regulatory and/or commercial incentives.
Exposure to moisture and water during production, transportation, distribution, and storage results in water contamination of hydrocarbon fuels. The presence of three percent or more water in the fuel storage system and at the pump is common. The water is not miscible with hydrocarbon and is only slightly soluble in alcohol. The presence of water as a separate layer and its entry into the fuel injection system of an internal combustion engine results in erratic performance and emission characteristics. Furthermore, exposure of water into the fuel delivery system and combustion chambers has been shown to result in corrosion of the entire fuel-utilization system reducing its operational life and/or performance. It would be desirable to have an additive that would solubilize any water or moisture present in the fuel into a homogeneous solution with consistent combustion characteristics.
In the distribution system of conventional gasoline and diesel, the water remains in the bottom of the storage tank due to density differences between the hydrocarbon fuel components and the water. Even when shipped through pipelines, any water or moisture present in the gasoline or diesel fuels separates out as a separate layer upon storage in settling tanks. However, with the advent of alternative, oxygenated, reformulated, and engineered fuels, a slight presence of water results in a phase separation of the fuel into two permanent layers severely restricting its distribution, storage, and use characteristics.
It would be desirable to provide a fuel additive that is capable of enhancing multiple performance characteristics of a given fuel. It would be desirable to have an additive that would solubilize any water or moisture present in the fuel into a homogeneous solution with consistent combustion characteristics. It would also be desirable to provide an additive capable of improving the combustion efficiency and emissions reduction characteristics of a fuel. Furthermore, it would be desirable to provide a method of making such a fuel additive based on the fuel composition to be enhanced.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the invention to overcome one or more of the problems described above.
According to the invention, a homogeneous polymeric fuel additive and a method of forming and using the additive are provided. The method includes forming a mixture of an ethoxylated alcohol and an amide. The ethoxylated alcohol comprises a high concentration of at least one or more linear straight-chain alcohol having a hydrocarbon chain length of at least about nine carbon atoms. The amide is formed by reacting an alcohol amine with an alkyl ester of a fatty acid. The method further includes mixing the ethoxylated alcohol/amide mixture with an ethoxylated fatty acid or derivative having a hydrocarbon chain length of at least about nine carbon atoms to form the polymeric fuel additive.
The invention also provides a fuel additive made by the inventive method, a fuel comprising an effective amount of the additive.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from a review of the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the appended claims.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The invention provides a fuel additive and methods of making and using the same. The additive includes an ethoxylated alcohol comprising at least about 75 weight percent of at least one linear, straight-chain alcohol having a hydrocarbon chain length of about nine to about fifteen carbon atoms, and a substantially equimolar (with respect to the alcohol) amount of an amide formed by reacting an alcohol amine with an equimolar amount of an alkyl ester of a fatty acid, preferably at a reaction temperature of about 100° C. to about 110° C. Still further, the additive includes an equimolar amount of an ethoxylated fatty acid formed by reacting an unmodified fatty acid with ethylene oxide. Preferably, the additive includes equimolar amounts of each of the ethoxylated alcohol, amide, and ethoxylated fatty acid.
The inventive additive is made by a method including the step of forming a reaction product of substantially equimolar amounts of the ethoxylated alcohol and the amide, preferably at a temperature of about 55° C. to about 58° C., and subsequently isothermally reacting the resulting product with an equimolar amount of the ethoxylated fatty acid. In the polymer additive production process, the ethoxylated alcohol and fatty acid act as monomers while the amide serves as the chain initiator. Each of the alcohol, amide, and fatty acid may be dissolved in a solvent for purposes of facilitating the industrial-scale manufacture of the inventive fuel additive.
A method of using the inventive fuel additive includes admixing the additive (preferably in a low concentration) with a fuel. Thus, the invention is also directed to a fuel composition that includes a hydrocarbon-based fuel comprising one or more constituents having hydrocarbon chain lengths of about four to about thirty carbon atoms and the inventive fuel additive. The volumetric ratio of the inventive fuel additive to the fuel may be very low (e.g., about 1:1000) to achieve desired performance characteristics.
The fatty acids may be used both as a primary component of the final additive composition as well as in the preparation of an amide by combining an ethanolamine (mono-, di-, or tri-) with a desired fatty acid or derivative.
The unmodified fatty acid and the alcohol are ethoxylated using a known ethoxylating agent, such as ethylene oxide, prior to forming the additive. The overall degree of ethoxylation of the additive is preferably maximized to achieve maximum water solubilization without detrimentally affecting the performance characteristics of the fuel. Increasing the degree of ethoxylation results in a phase change of the ethoxylated higher alcohols and fatty acids from a liquid to a solid limiting its application to the fuel. The disadvantage of having a lower degree of ethoxylation is that higher quantities of the a
Marshall O'Toole Gerstein Murray & Borun
Medley Margaret
Pure Energy Corporation
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