BE1030486B1 - FUEL ADDITIVE - Google Patents

Abstract

Fuel additive consisting essentially of a mixture of (a) 37-38% v/v MMT; (b) 13-12% v/v MTBE; (c) 24-26% v/v ferrocene, and (d) 24-26% v/v toluene, adding to 100%.

Description

Title: Fuel additive

Technical Area

The present invention relates to a fuel additive for improving the octane quality of a fuel composition. It's also about fuel composition.

Background

Fuel additives, for fuel composition suitable for combustion in a (car) engine, are known. Fuels, especially gasoline fuels, have undergone many changes over the years to improve engine performance and reduce engine emissions. Many octane boosting compounds used to improve engine performance and extend fuel supply, such as tetraethyl lead, aromatic compounds, methylcyclopentadienylmanganese tricarbonyl ("MMT"), methyl tertiary butyl ether ("MTBE") and other such additives, have shown excellent performance to see.

The octane boosting effect exhibited by internal combustion engines, for example spark ignition engines, is well known in the art. If the engine is operated with a gasoline fuel that has a lower octane number than the minimum requirement for the engine, "knocking" may occur. Knocking occurs when a gasoline fuel spontaneously and prematurely ignites or explodes in the engine before the spark plug has initiated ignition. This effect coincides with the formation of deposits near the combustion chamber of the engine.

Various additives, when added to hydrocarbon fuels, can prevent or reduce the formation of deposits, or remove or modify deposits formed in the combustion chamber and on adjacent surfaces such as intake valves, ports and spark plugs, which in turn causes a decrease in the required octane rating . For example, MMT is known to be an effective anti-knock agent (see the

U.S. Patents 2,818,417; 2,839,552 and 3,127,351).

ASTM D2699 is the standard test method for Research Octane

Number”, also known as RON) of spark ignition motor fuels. This laboratory test method involves the quantitative determination of the knock classification of spark ignition liquid motor fuel in terms of RON, including fuels containing up to 25% v/v ethanol. The sample fuel is tested using a standardized single-cylinder, four-stroke cycle, variable compression ratio, carburetor,

CFR engine running in accordance with a defined set of operating conditions. The O.N. scale is determined by the volumetric composition of PRF blends. The knock intensity of the sample fuel is compared to that of one or more PRF blends. The O.N. of the PRF blend corresponding to the K.I. of the sample fuel represents the RON.

Typical commercial fuels produced for spark ignition engines score in the 88 to 101 RON range. range.

WRT BV in the Netherlands has developed a range of additives that enhance fuels by improving their quality, performance, safety or handling. For example, a gasoline with a RON of 89.6 can be improved to 91.6 by adding 150 ppm of an additive consisting of 50 vol.% ferrocene and 50 vol.% toluene. The same fuel can be improved to 92.4 with 150 ppm MMT.

However, the need remains to find additives that provide improved RON. and do so cost-effectively.

Summary of the Invention

The present invention provides a fuel additive consisting essentially of a mixture of: (a) 37-38% v/v methylcyclopentadienylmanganese tricarbonyl (MMT); (b) 13-12% v/v methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE); (c) 24-26% v/v ferrocene, and (d) 24-26% v/v toluene, adding to 100%.

Also provided is a fuel composition comprising the fuel additive.

Detailed description of the invention

Fuel additive compositions and their applications are known.

Methylcyclopentadienylmanganesetricarbonyl (MMT) and bis(n5-cyclopentadienyl)iron (ferrocene) are known.

Surprisingly, a synergistic mixture has been found, where the 4 components perform just as well, and at a lower cost, than an additive based on ferrocene/toluene or an additive based on MMT. It even outperforms a mixture of ferrocene/toluene and MMT.

The fuel additive of the present invention consists essentially of the 4 components (a)-(d), added to 100%. The range where the synergistic effect has been found is narrow. The volume ratio of MMT versus MTBE is preferably approximately 3:1.

In other words, the fuel additive preferably comprises an amount of MMT that is 37.5% v/v and an amount of MTBE that is 12.5% v/v. The volumetric ratio of ferrocene versus toluene is preferably approximately 1:1. In other words, the fuel additive preferably comprises an amount of ferrocene that is 25% v/v and an amount of toluene that is 25% v/v. The term "approximately" includes minor deviations up to 0.5% v/v, preferably up to 0.2%

UN.

The fuel additive of the present invention can be added to a base fuel, preferably a fuel for spark ignition engines, more preferably a gasoline base fuel. Depending on the base fuel, conventional amounts can be used. For example, the fuel composition may comprise 20 to 1000 ppm (“parts per million”), preferably 100 to 500 ppm of the fuel additive relative to the fuel composition.

If the research octane number of a fuel composition needs to be increased, then use of the fuel additive of the present invention can help. The present invention therefore also describes a method of increasing the research octane number of a fuel composition by adding the fuel additive of the present invention to a base fuel.

Examples

For the following examples, a West African Fuel was used.

WAF) type gasoline used in a standardized single-cylinder, four-stroke cycle, variable compression ratio, carbureted, CFR engine that ran in accordance with a defined set of operating conditions set forth in ASTM D2699: 91.6.

The RON of the base fuel is shown in the table below. In comparative experiment 1, 150 ppm of an additive consisting of MMT was added to the base fuel. This increased the RON significantly, but at a higher price. MMT is very expensive. In comparative experiment 2, 150 ppm of a mixture consisting of 50 MMT + 5 ferrocene + 45 toluene (in v/v%) was added to the base fuel. This also increased the

RON significantly, but again at a high price. Changing the ratio of these additives did not show any improved performance.

In comparative experiment 3, an amount of MMT is replaced by MTBE. Although this blend still shows an improvement over the base oil, it appears that replacing the MMT with MTBE leads to less improvement. This would indicate that replacing MMT with MTBE does not help. Surprisingly, replacing about a quarter of the MMT with MTBE, in other words, even more

MMT, achieves the same high performance as in Comparative Experiment 2, but at a lower price. This is experiment 4 in the table below.

Table 1 (relative quantities in % v/v)

Additive (150 ppm on base fuel) [RON [ee] em 50 MMT + 5 ferrocene + 45 toluene 11818 40 MMT + 10 MTBE + 25 ferrocene + 25 toluene MZ 37.5 MMT + 12.5 MTBE + 25 ferrocene + 25 toluene 1818

The above results illustrate the surprising synergistic effect, at a lower cost.

Claims (8)

CONCLUSIONS BE2022/5314 1. Fuel additive consisting essentially of a mixture of (a) 37-38% v/v MMT; 5 (b) 13-12% v/v MTBE; (c) 24-26% v/v ferrocene, and (d) 24-26% v/v toluene, adding to 100%. A fuel additive according to claim 1, wherein the amount of MMT is 37.5% v/v and the amount of MTBE is 12.5% v/v. Fuel additive according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the amount of ferrocene is 25% v/v and the amount of toluene is 25% v/v. A fuel composition comprising a fuel additive as defined in any one of claims 1 to 3 and a base fuel. The fuel composition of claim 4, wherein the base fuel is a gasoline base fuel. 6. Fuel composition according to claim 4 or 5, comprising 100-500 ppm of the fuel additive relative to the fuel composition. Use of the fuel additive according to any one of claims 1-3, for increasing the research octane number (RON) of a fuel composition. A method for increasing the research octane number of a fuel composition by adding the fuel additive according to any one of claims 1-3 to a base fuel.