CA1137751A

CA1137751A - Aqueous hydrocarbon fuel containing alkylene oxide-carboxylic acid amide emulsifier

Info

Publication number: CA1137751A
Application number: CA000341973A
Authority: CA
Inventors: Gunther Boehmke
Original assignee: Bayer AG
Current assignee: Bayer AG
Priority date: 1978-12-16
Filing date: 1979-12-14
Publication date: 1982-12-21
Also published as: DE2854540A1; JPS5582191A; ATE1247T1; ZA796799B; AU5392579A; DD147854A5; BR7908185A; EP0012345B1; EP0012345A1; DE2963192D1; US4297107A

Abstract

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
A fuel especially a fuel for an automobile, internal combustion engine or a diesel engine comprising a hydrocarbon water and emulsifier wherein the emulsifier is a non-ionic emulsifier and comprises the addition product of ethyl-ene oxide or propylene oxide and a carboxylic acid amide with 8 to 22 carbon atoms.

Description

~ .1 ~ , The inven-tion relates to fuels for combustion engines such as g~soline engines and d~esel englnes as well as rotary piston engines and turbinss, which contain emulsifiers or emulsifier mixtures and water and9 if appropriate9 alcohols9 in the fuels customary for the particular units.
The use of water and emulsi~iers in ~uels ~or pro moting combustion has already been disclosed ~Gerrnan Offenlegung$schrift 19 545,~09 and German Offenlegungs-schrift 2,633,462). Thus, for e~ample, th~ knockingproperties of gasoline in relatively high compression en~
gines is more advantageously influenced by water than by the addition of methanol, which is frequently proposed (Motorzeitschrift, year 37, No 5, page 187 (1976); SAE
,; 15 Publication 750,123) However9 a number o~ in some cases considerable disadvantages, in particular inadequate stability in the cold, had to be tolerated in the case of the emulsifiers hitherto employed Combustion engine fuels which contaln a ~on ionic emulsifier9 water and~ if appropriate~ an alcohol have now been ~ound, which are characterized in that they contain, as the emulsifier9 an addition product of ethylene oxide or propylene oxide and a carboxylic acid amide with 8-22 carbon atoms.
The fuels according to the invention preferably contain 40-95% by weight of hydrocarbons, 0.5-6% by weight of a ~on-ionic emulsifier of the formula R-C~ ~I3 N~YtnH t ~
Rl in ~hich R represents an optionally substituted9 straight~
chain, branched or cyclic, saturated or un~atura-ted hydrocarbon radical~
Le A 19 300 `
:., . . .~ _ .~: , .

3~'7~;~
~ 2 ~
Y denotes the grouping CH2-CH-O-, ~2 wherein R2 denotes hydrogen or methyl~ and in which n represents an integer from L to 50~preferably 1 to 25l and R1 represents hydrogen or denotes ~he grvuping ~n~
0-20% by weight of' a straight ~hain or branched9 saturated or unsaturated alcohol containing 1 8 carbon atoms~ and 0.5-~5% by weight of water.
- A fuel composition con-taining 60-95% by weight of a hydrocarbon or of a hydrocarbon mixture, 1,0-~.5% by weight of' one or more emulsifiers of the formula ~I) 7 if appropriate 0.5-10% by weight of a Cl-C8 alcohol and water as the remainder9 is particularly preferred, The hydrocarbons contained in the :Euels according to the invention are in general the mixtures customary for this purpose, such as those characterized by their physical data in DIN Specification 51,600 or in United Stated Feder~
al Speci~ication W -M-561 a-2 of 30th October 1954, These are aliphatic hydrocarbons from gaseou~ 9 dissolved butane up to C20 hydrocarbons (as tla residual fraction ; of diesel oil) 9 for example cycloaliphatics9 olefinic and/or aromatic hydrocarbons, naturally occurring naphth~
ene-based hydrocarbons or refined technical grade hydro-~ carbons. The compositions according to the invention : preferably contain no lead alkyls and similar toxic additives, The non-ionic emulsifier is preXerably a fatty .30 acid amide which can be thought of as being formed by ~ adding 1 to 50 mols of ethylene oxide or propylene oxide : onto a fatty acid amide and which has the ~ormula ,,"~o R-C
NH~2-C~-O~H

in which `, Le A l9 300 _ 3 R9 R2 arld n have the abovementioned meaningO
The radical R generally denote~ the radical of a saturated or unsaturated carboxylic acid which can be varied within very wide limits with regard to its mole~
cular structure. Examples which may be mentioned are fatty acids9 such as9 for example, octanoic acid9 decanoic acid7 lauric acid9 myristic acid7 palmitic acid9 stearic acid9 behenic acid9 arachic acid or oleic acid9 arucic acidg ricinoleic acid or mixtures thereof9 such as are 10 found~ for example9 in coconut oil9 palm oil9 sunflower oil, safflower oil, soya bean oil, castor oil9 sperm oll9 fish oil, tallow fat or lard. Genera~ h~s up ~o 25 C-atoms, esp~ci~lly 7 to 2l C~a~oms.
The proposed emulsifiers of the formula ~I) are already known ~compare M J Schick, Nonionic 5urfactants9 volume 1, pages 209 211; M Dekker9 New York 1976) 4 They are very acceptable physiologically (use in detergents for washing by hand) and are biologically degradable~ The ~atty ra~ materials are available in large amounts9 ~hich 20 can even be increased in the long tarm slnce the materlals do not depend on fossil depositsO Synthetic acids such as are formed in the oxidation of paraffin or in the oxi dation o~ ~olefines or tripropylene and tetrapropylene can, of course9 also be employed If the amides are 25 prepared f~om the naturally occurrir~ triglycerides, these triglycerides can still contain the monoglycerides o~
these fats if only two of the fatty acid radicals of the triglyceride are utilised for the amide formationO
The degree o~ oxyethylation9 that is to say the 30 nature and number o~ the groupings Y o~ the ~ormula ~I)9 can be varied within wide limits. Compounds of the formula (I) which are adducts of 1 3 mols o~ ethylene ox ide and 1 mol of carboxylic aci.d amide and/or of 5~25 mols of ethylene oxide and~or propylene oxide and 1 mol o~
35 carboxylic ~cld amide are advantageously employed as the emulsifiers~ The content in the ~uel according to the invention can be~ for example9 15-70% by weight in the case of the 1 3~1 adduct and 30-85% by weight in the case of the 5~25~1 adductO The emulsifier comprising the adduct Le A 19 300 - ' .

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~, 4 of 1-2 mo].s of' ethylen~ oxide and l. mol of .Eatty acid amide (if appropriate mixed with portions o~ a ~atty acld monoglyceride arising from the preparation) and/or th~
adduct of 5~1.0 mols of ethylene o~.de and/or propylene 5 oxide and l mol of fatty acid amide, and if appropriate the adduct of 20-30 mols of ethylene oxide and 1 mol of fatty acid amide is particu.larly preferred, The emulsifiers are most advan-tageously prepared.
via the fatty acids and ethanol.amine ~compare M, Shick, lO Nonionic Surfactants, locO cit, pages 213-214). A
fa-t,ty acid amide according to the invention containirlg 1 mol of ethylene oxide can be prepared with a very high degree of purity from these components by splitting off' water at 160-180C in the course of about 60~90 minutes, 15 If the fa-tty acid amide is used as the starting material (compare M, Schick9 Nonionic Surfactants9 locO cl.t, page 213), l mol of ethylene oxide is added on, advantageously at elevated temperature9 for example at 100-140C, and if necessary under catalysis with a weak acid or weak base.
20 To achieve a greater uni~ormity of the products it can be appropriate to start with the l:l adduc-t with the customary oxyalkylation catalysts9 such as sodium hydroxide9 sodium methylate and po-tassium hydroxide, and to add on the des ired amount of ethylene oxide under pressureO
~5 If a naturally occurring fat is used as -the start ing material9 this is reacted with 2 mols of ethanolamine.
Af'ter about 2-5 hours at a reaction temperature of about 140-180C9 in general ethanolamine and triglyceride can no longer be detected, This 1:2 molar mixture of fatty 30 acid monoglyceride and ~atty acid amide 1:1 ethylene oxide adduct can advantageously be employed in an amount of 1~70% by weight of the non-ionic emulsifierO
: The non-ionic emulsifiers can contain impurities from the industrial preparation7 which originate from 35 impurities .in. the precursor9 for example ~rom the ethylene oxide 9 are caused by moisture or stem from the oxyethyla~
tion ca-talyst~ These are pre~erably polyethylene glycols, which can be responsible for deterioratlon in the quality of the emulsion and ~or the formation of ~n aqueous ~e A l9 300 .

~ 3'~

sediment. If they are present in the emulsifiers in amounts of over l~ it is advisable to remove them by one of the ~nown purification operations for non-ionic emulsifiers, for example according to German Patent Specification 828,839. A novel purification method, such as is described by the process of a co-pending application having the title "Non-ionic emulsifiers and a process for their purification" IGerman Patent Application P 28 54 541.7; inventor: Guenther Boehmke, publication date June 26, 1980), is preferably suitable for this puri~ication on an industrial scale.
Lower alcohols are used in the fuels according to the invention to control the spontaneity of emulsion, the stability in the cold and the dependence of the emulsification of the water on the temperature. In general, spontaneity can be achieved with the aid of mixed emulsifiers of various ionic character. Since for corrosion reasons only non-ionic and residue-free combustible emulsifiers can be used in a motor fuel without difficulty, it must be described as exceptionally surprising that spontaneous water-in-oil emulsions are obtained with the emulsifiers according to the

2~ invention. As a result, the fuels according to the invention have a considerably improved stability in the coldl which not only consists in the prevention of the formation of ice crystals, but also is to be attributed to the fact that gel structures which can cause an uncontrolled increase in viscosity do not arise.
Alcohols which may be mentioned are straight-chain or branched aliphatic alcohols and cycloaliphatic alcohols, such as methanol, ethanol, propanol, isopropanol, butanol, iso-butanol, tert.-butanol, amyl alcohol, isoamyl alcohol, hexyl alcohol, .. . , ...................... ~ - .

37'~

1,3-dimethyl-butanol, cyclohexanol, methylcyclohexanol, octanol and 2-ethyl-hexanol. Mixtures of these alcohols can also readily be used. Alcohols which are readily accessible industrially are preferably employed, for example methanol, ethanol, isopropanol, isobutanol and 2-ethyl-hexanol.

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The fuel emulsivn according to the invention is prepared 'by stirring the water into a solution of t'he emulsifier i.n -the hydrocarbon7 which~contains alcohol i~
appropriate, during which9 preferably9 no machine~ w'hich supply further dispersion energ~ are employedO In a modificatlon of' this procedureg the emulsifier9 and if appropriate also the alcohol9 can be dispersed in gasoline and/or water When the smulsion. has formed9 it is appropriate 10 not to al:Low the viscosity of the emulsion to rise to values which are considerably higher than 10 m PA~ (com~
pare DIN Specifica-tion 9040), since a viscosity o~ over lO ~ PAs can already mean that the fuel can no longer pass through the normal ~ilters 9 pumps and ~et~, in the ~ehlc.le 15 without trouble. It is thus pref'erably advisable to keep the viscosi-ty of the fuels according to the in~en.tion within 5 m PAs, and for gasoline emulsions~ for ex~mple, under 2 m PAs In addition, on cooling to about -l5C 9 the viscosity of the ~uels should not rise considerably and the emulsion should remain stable rrhe monoamides7 in particular those of the formula ~IX), to be employed as emulsifiers for the :~uels accord~
ing to the invention have a pronounced rust-proteotion actionO In contrast 9 the methyl polyet'her~amides 25 hitherto emp~oyed7 for example, are largely ine~fective The other emulsifiers hitherto described for use in ~uels increase, rather, rust ~ormation in the presence o~ water7 possib'ly because of their degreasing action Moreo~er7 the emulsifier -t~pe according to the in~
vention does not lead to increased swelling or detachment in the case o~ either the plastic part coming -~nto contact with the fuel system or the lacquer surfaces~ as can be observed wi-th esters of polyethers.
Another advantage o~ the fuels according to -the invention is that the use of lead tetraalkyls 9 with the extremel~ low value for the maximum workplace concentration (MWC value) o~ 0 oOl ppm required for these compounds 7 can be avoided. F'urthermore~ the 1'fluids't ~or so--called Le A 19 300 ... ... .. . . . ..

scavengers9 compare Chemiker~Zeitung 97 ~1973) 9 No~ 9y page 463) which are necessary -to remove the lead oxide in the motor and were classified in the IIIB class in the last Accident ~revention Guidelines (Accident Prevention ~uide-lines of the Chemical lndustry Emplos~rs Association7 Appendix 4, MWC Values List of 1010.1978) can be dlspensed with.
Lowering the tempera~ure of the combu3tion opera~
tion also reduces the amounts o~ harmful substanees in the exhaust (for example the N0 content) and because of ~his "incorporated coolingl', -the vehicle can be driven economic~
ally with the "depleted" mixture. It is no longer nec-essary to reduce the combustion chamber temperature by an .
"enriched" mixture, which corresponds to an unnecessarily increased fuel consumption. Since the additives areemulsifiers, their detergent actio~ prevents the unit from becoming dirty.
The ratio of fuel utilized arld fuel necessary only for mechanical reasons is, OL` course9 particularly unfavourable in the case of high speed dri~e units9 such as, for example, in the case of Wankel engines and turbines9 which display their driving power only at high speeds of rotation. Furthermore9 the heat of combustion necess~
ary rapidly leads to heat build~up problems and thus also to unfavourable exhaust valuesO In this case .it i5 particularly suitable to use the fuel/water emulsion according to the invention to achieve a more ~avourable ;
specific consumption and to solve the heat and exhaust problems.
Another ad~antage of the fuels, according to the invention9 containing emulsifiers and water and/ if appro ;
priate, alcohol~ is that their electrostatic charge is greatly reduced, so that a considerable danger when hand-ling fuels is reduced ~compare Haase9 Statische Elek~
tri~itat als ~efahr (Static Electrici-ty as a Danger~9 Verlag Chemie, Weinheim/Bergstrasse 19689 especially pages 699 96 999 114 and 1 5)0 The electrostatic charge of the fuels according to the invention is so low that dangerous discharges can no longer occurO At 20C~ the regular grade gasoline used has speci~lc volume resistivity values Le A 19 300 .. . .. . . . .. .

~ 8 of about l.LOl~f2.cm7 and in contrast the fuel according to the invention in general has a speciflc volume resisti~ri~
ty of less lolOl0 Q ucm9 for exampl~ of 10107 to lolOlO QOcm~
The spec~fic volume resistivity of the ~uels according to 5 the invention is preferably 10108 to 90109n cm~ A-t f values of Les~ ~han 101.Q ~cm9 there i.s no longer a danger of electrostatic charging during filling up, trarlsferring and emptyingO
Surprisingly9 in spite o~ the water content9 ff 10 which is in some cases considerable 9 the combustibili-ty o~
the fuel is retained, and the formation of soot is even reduced. For diesel fuels having a composition according to the invention, the tolerance lim1t in the fuel/air ratio before the diesel vehicle in its highly 15 polluting, sooty dense smoke is shifted to a far higher value~
The ease with which the fuel emulsions according to the in~ntion igni-te is in no way impaired7 so that vehicles fire up without delay on starting, even after 20 remaining idle in the open air ~or several we2ksc Thi~
reliability in operation is also achieved by the outstand~
ing storage stability of the emulsions to be employed according to the invention which do not deposit water9 even in small amounts, in the carburettor, the fuel pump 25 or the tank~ As a result, the known difficulties on starting and the ignition cut-out on driving are eliminated.
Emulsifier systems known hitherto tend -to form these so-called water sumps, in particular be~use of the by product~
I which they contain.
Finally9 an improvement in the octane number is also achie~ed by using the fuels according to the invention.
` The percentage data given in the following ex-amples are per cent by weight, unless otherwise indicated~
Exam~le 1 204% of a non ionic oleic acid amide~ purified from polyethylene glycol 9 with 7 mols of ethylene oxide (adduct of 7 mols of ethylene oxide and 1 mol of oleic acid amide), o~6% o~ a coconut oil acid amide with 1 mol of ethylene oxide (free from ester constituents) and 1.5% of 40 isobutanol are dissolved in a normal grade petrol of Le A 19 ~00 . ._ ~ 37~

commercial quality (speoific vol~ne resistivity 1,10~2 Q .cm).
25% of water are allowed to run into the petrol/
emulsifier solution (70.5% Of normal-grade petrol), whilst stirring with a stirrer (about 200 300 rpm), When the S emulsion has been turned over and over 9 an opalescent 9 milky fuel is ready to u~e. When magnified 900 tirnes under a microscope9 only uniform9 ~ery ~ine droplets and no islands of water pressed flat by 'che slide are visible~
The fuel thus prepared has a specific vol~ne resistivity 10 of 3.109 Q .cm.
The viscosity at 20C was 0~96 m PAs and the times ~,~ taken to pass through a Bosch ~asoline filter do not differ Prom that for an equivalent amount of gasolin~ An 3pel Kadett oP 45 horse-power and with a cylinder capacity of lol litre,s was tested on a HPA test machine ~roller test stand) at a speed of 100 km/hour and with a resistance on the rollers of 20 kg for 15 minutes~
The fuel wa,s fed to the carbure~tor separately i from a measuring vesselO The idling ~et and ~ull load jet were increased in ~ize somewhat due to the higher sur-face viscosity and higher density. The external tempera-ture 14C. The following consumption was deter-- .
mined, from the amount of fuel measured and the number o~
kilometres covered at about 100 km/hour:
Fuel emulsion ~ (wi-thout ~he above additlv~s) 8.84 1 f'or 100 km 10.47 1 for 100 ~m When the tank was filled with the fuel emulsion, the car could be driven and, after belng left to stand ~or any desired period9 could be started'agaln directly~ The C0 exhaust values were 2.5% by volume.
Exam~le 2

3% of the smulsifier used in Example 1~ that is ~3 ; say oLeic acid amide with 7 mols of ethylene oxide 9 iS
dissolved in 72% OP normal-grade petrol and the fue~~ was proc,essed to an emulsion of the same quality as in Example by slowly stirring 25% of water in. This e~ulsion can be used for carburettor~t~pe engines at temperature above 15C~
Le A 1 g 300 rrad e 1~1 c~ K

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E~e~__3 If 0~3% of' a 1.1 adduct of rici.noleic acid amide and ethylene oxide is also added to the fuel emulsion from Example 29 the fuel can stlll 'be used at 0Cq 5 Example 4 To prepare a fuel 9 22% of' wate~ i,s emu'lsi~led into a mixture of rl0% of' lead~free regular--yrad~ yas~lin~ 4% o~' oleic acid amide wit'h 7 mols of ethylene oxide 9 0 ~ 6% of technical coconut oil acid amide with 1 mol of ethylene 10 oxide (prepared by heating :L mol o~ cocon.ut oi.1 to 160C
with 2 mols of ethanolamine until no further free amine could be titrated) and 5% of a mixture of ethanol and iso butanol ~4~1) at exterrlal tempera-tures of about 15C~ whllst stirring thoroughlyO
A stableg opalescent 9 milky emulsion was obta.ined which had a viscosity of less than lm'PAs and ~ormed no "~"",,~ gel-'like streaks even at -10Co The tank o~ a Fiat 128 car9 which''ha.s a horse-power of 55 and a cylinder capacity of 19180 CCS and had ~0 hitherto been driven on super~grade gasoline~was ~illed Wit~l this fuel. On slightly increasing the suction pressure in ~he carburettor by partial operation of the choke, the vehicle could be driven in busy urban traffic withou-t a discernible loss in the driving characteristics. Knock-ing on acceleration (pinking~ as is ascertained wi-th gasollne of insufficient quality could be observed neither when the .engine was cold nor when it was at the ope~ating tempera~
ture. The small amount of dirt on the plugs after driving short distances was remarkable~
E ~ '~
A 1.7 litre Opel Rekord was driven with ~he fuel prepared as followso A mixture of 67% of a lead-free regular-grade ~ue~, :: 2.25% of oleic acid amide with 7 mols of ethylene oxide (purified~ 9 0.75/0 of a technical grade coconut 3il aci~
amide with 1 mol of ethylene oxide ~prepared by amidating 1 mol of coconut oil with 2 mol5 of ethanolamin~ at 160~
170C) and 5~0 of an alcohol mixture of methanol~ isobutanol.
Le A 19 300 .. , ~ , . . . ... . .. . . . . . . .. . .. . . . . ..... . . . . . ....
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and ~e-thyl-hexanol (17:2-1) was emulsified with 25% of wa-ter at 11-14C ~burled ta~ temperature), whilst stirring.
The fuel formed an opalesoent, rnilky7 water in-oil emulsion9 had a viscosity of 1/1 miPAs and displayed no ~elo s like streaks even at ~15C.
The idling jet, and main jet in the carburet'cor of the vehicle were replaced by jets having diameters a'bout 10% and 15% wider. A consumption of 1007-11,7 1 was established on normal mixed driving of the vehicle in ur'ban 10 traffic and on the motorway. This consumption was also measured earlier with gasoline~ The driving behaviour and the maximum speed corresponded to that measured pre~
viously with petrol containing lead~ Observation of the condition of the plugs indicated clean, residue-free combustio~ in this mixed traf'ficO Exhaust measurements showed a CO value of 0O5--1,0%9 whilst the same vehicle when driven with super-grade gasol~ne had CO values o~ 3.5~4,5%, .
~hen driven conti-nuously9 the heating up of the engine ob~
served was less severe than that measured when the vehicle was driven with the prescribed gasoline Example 6 For bet-ter handling of the highly viscous emul-sifier mixture from Example'5, the 3% of emulsifier are formulated to a clear~ low-viscosity solution with 3% of gasoline and 3~ of w~ter, This solution can then readily be dissolved in 64% of gasoline~ if necessary using mech~
anical metering devices 9 giving a clear solution and the solution can then be emulsified directly with 22% of water. The fuel according to Example 5 is obtained with the same composition and in the same quality.
Exam~e 7 , The following fuel was prepared, to operate a diesel operation:
7005% of commercially available diesel oil~ 203%
of stearic acid amide and 5 mols of ethylene oxide ~puri fied goods~ 9 007% of coconut oil acid ~mide and 1 mol of ethylene oxide and 1~5% of isobutanol are dissolved with one another and ~5% of water is then emulsifi~d inO It is sufficient to use a simple stirrer~ ¦
- Le A 19 300 , . , , .. . ,. ..... . ..... ,, . ,.. ... . ,, , .. ,, .. , .,.. ~

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Thils emulsion can be used directly orS if l~w ex-ternal temperature~ are expecte-l, can also be mixed with 5% of meth~lol. A car with a 2 litre diesel engine could be driven without impairment~
The same quality fuel could be obtained using ricinoleic acid amide with l mol of ethylene oxide 9 which can be prepared in technical grade ql~lity from l mol of' castor oil and 2 mol~ of ethanolamine a-t 160~1.80C in the course of about 5 hours 9 when this emulsifier was employed instead of the coconut oil acid amide with 1 mol af ethylene oxideO
Exam~le 8 The procedure :followed is as in Example 7, but a diesel oil of' the following composition is employedo 67,5%
of diesel oil, 1,8% of s-tearic acid amide with 5 mol~ of ethylene oxide, 0.5% of stearic acid amide with ~0 mols o~
ethylene oxide, 0~7% o~ coc.onut oil acid amide with 1 mol of ethylene oxide; 0,5% of 2~ethylhexanol and 29% o~ water:
~his fuel can be used in a di~sel-driven vehicle without the difficulties such as can arise from an unstable fuel which separates out into layersO
Exam~le 9 67% of regular-grade gasoline were mixed with 178% of coconut oil acid amide with 2 mols of ethylene oxide (pre-pared from coconut oil acids and diethanolamine in a ratioof 1~ 1.2% of oleic acid ~mide wi-th 7 mols of ethylene oxide (purified) and 5% of an alcohol mixture ~84% o~
methanol, 10% of isobutanol and 6% of 2~ethylhexanol) 9 and 25% of water was then added, by stirring in. ~he vehicles described in Examples 4, 5 and 6 can be driven with this low viscosity, stable fuel in the same manner as described in those examplesO
The same good resuIt3 are achieved if 105% of iso~
propanol is used instead of the alcohol mixture ~to inc rease the gasoline constituent ~o 7C~5 A regular-g~ade gasoline which is free from lead alco~
hols and "fluids" thereof is employed in an amount of 79%9 1,~% of ~the addition product of 1 mol of oleic acid amide Le ~ 19 300 , ,j .~. ~.. ... .. ...... . . ..... . .

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~ 13 .A
and 7 mols of e-thylene oxide (contain:Lng less tharl 0,8%
by weight of polye-thylene glycol and less than 0,07% of salts, due to purification) and 1.8% of coconut o:il acid diethanolamide are dissolved in thi.s gasoline~ An opal~
escent emuls.ion i~ prepared by stirxing a mixture of 15%
of water and 3% of methanol inO The density is 0~778u A 1.7 1 Opel Rekord was dri~en with this fuelO The per~
~ormances during this test corresponded to those prescribed for this vehicleO The consumpti.~. is ~he same as for customary fuels (free from water and emulsifiers~O .After leaving to s-tand overnight in the open air, during which the morning temperature was -19C 9 the eng.l,rle could be started without problems after a few secondsa ~. compari~
son measurement of the exhaust ~alues showed 1,5~/o o~ CO fo~
gasoline which ~as free from water and e~nulsI~iers an~,~ 09 1 %
of CO for -the fuel according to the invention ~t'he values were measured whilst the engine was idling at -the operating temperature). No increase in the N02 value was measured.
Example 11 The CO con-tent in the exhaust resul-ting from the fuel of Example 10 according to the invention in a 3 yeax old vehicle ~as measured whilst the engine was idling at -the operating temperatureO The value ~as 003% ~f.` COO
Regular-grade gasoline had a value of 3 9 0% of COO ~ixtures of this gasoline with 15% of methanol or 15~ oX lethanol lead to CO values which deviat0 less,than 003% from the ~alue for regular-grade gasoline (date in German Offenlegungs~chrlft 2,806,673, Figure 29 corfirm our measurements for ethanol3, Exam~le 12 Eead-f'ree regular-grade gasoline wa,c; processed as follows to give a fuel according to the in~ention- 80% of normal-grade petrol, 1.2% of ~n adduct of 1 mol of oleic acid amide and 7 mols of ethylene oxide and 108% of coco nut oil acid diethanolamide ~preparad from coconut o.il and diethanolamine) were mixed9 15% of water9 2% of methanol and 1% of ethanol were then emulsified in9 whilst stirring.
This opalescent fuel produces maximum speed in a Mercedes 250 with an engine power of 95 kw (130 horse-power~O For this, the main ~et was adapted to the somewhat changed pro~
perties of the ~uel by being widened from 9705 to 1050 Le A 19 300 ... .~ ~.. ,, .. , . ., .,,, . ~ .. . ... . .. .... . .. . . . .

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~ 14 -The consumption established on a roller stand at a high resistance (l80 kp) was comparable to that of super-grade gasoline. In spit~ of using regular~grade gasoline, no knocking could be heard in the engi.ne, The same results were ach.ieved wherl arl ox~alkyl.
ated oleic aoid amide (prepared from oleic acid and amino-propanolamine by ~plitting of'f water and 'chen oxyethylating the product with 6.5 rnols of ethylene oxide) was used instead o~ the 1.2% of the oleic acid amide with 7 ethylene - ~ oxide units.
Example 13 The following diesel fuel was formulated ~or : drivlng a small lorry: 14% of water was emulsified into 8205% of diesel oil with 0~9~ of an addition product ~5 oons.istlng o~ 1 mol o~ oleic acid amide and 7 mols o~
ethylene oxide 9 ~ ~1% of coconut oil acid c1ie-thanolamide ~prepared from cooonut oil and diethanolamine~ and 005%
of' 2-eth~lhexanol. Using this fuel satis~actory driving and consumption values were able to be obtained in short ~ distance drivingO However, in contrast to the commercial diesel ~uelS when extracting a partial stream from the exhaust gases a white filter paper was only soiled to a hardly noticeable extent after 3 minutes~ whereas the diesel fuel without emulsifiers and water caused marked blackening of the filters.
Example 14 . 20~ of toluene was mixed with a gasoline ~ree from aromatic compounds and additives. 1.8~ of coconut oil acid diethanol amide and ~.2% of oleic acld amide with 7 3~ mols of ethyleneoxide were dissolved in 85 % o~ the above mixture~ 10~ water and 2~ ethanol were emulsified therein.
8.4 litres/100km of this opalesoent ~uel emul~
sion were consumed in a Volkswagen~vehlcle ~1.6 litre engine~ 62 ~w (85 horsepower~) ~ccording to DIN ~Deut-sche Industrie ~orm - German Industrial Standards~ con dition ~or testing consumptionO In short distance driving this value was 901 l~100 k~ With regular-grade ~asoline Le A 19 30(~

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^ 15 -the same consumption va~ues were measu:red unde-r th~ same conditions~
When the fuel clescribed in this example wa,~
diluted immediately after its production with the stated 5 gasoline mixture ln the ratio 1 ~ 1~ the sarne values were .
able to be obtained and with completely ~mooth runni~g during d~ivingO

2% o~ ~ coeonut oil acid ethanol am~deO wh.i~h ~o had been brought ~o a reaction with one mol of ethy~en~
ioxide under the normal oxyethylation conditions, and ; 1% of oleic acid amide with 7 mols o~ ethylene oxide were di.ssolved in 75 % of the yasoline mixturs of ~xample ~4 : A mix-ture of 10% water and 2% ethanol was emulsified 15 in this. The same values as in Example 14 were aehieved .
with this fuelO

:

Le A 19 300 .

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...... ....... .. .. . ....... ..

.. . . ' . ~ .

.. . . , .. ., . : . . . ...

., ., ,: . ,. ,. : ;, .. : , : : -.. . :: . .
. .... . , , . ~ : - , :~. . -;. . ,., ., ,

Claims

THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE
PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:

1. A fuel for a combustion engine comprising a hydrocarbon, water and a non-ionic emulsifier, said non-ionic emulsifier being the addition product of ethylene oxide or propylene oxide and a carboxylic acid amide with 8 to 22 carbon atoms.

2. A fuel according to claim 1 comprising 40 to 95 percent by weight hydro-carbon and 0.5 to 6 percent by weight of a non-ionic emulsifier of the formula wherein R represents an optionally substituted straight-chain or branched or cyclic, saturated or unsaturated hydrocarbon radical;

Y denotes the grouping wherein R2 denotes hydrogen or methyl and in which n represents an integer from 1 to 50 and R1 represents hydrogen or the group ?Y?nH.

3. A fuel according to claim 2 containing up to 20 percent by weight of a straight-chain or branched saturated or unsaturated alcohol containing 1 to 8 carbon atoms.

4. A fuel according to claim 2 containing 0.5 to 35 percent by weight water.

5. A fuel according to claim 1 wherein said non-ionic emulsifier is an adduct of 1-3 moles of ethylene oxide and 1 mole of a carboxylic acid amide.

6. A fuel according to claim 1 wherein said non-ionic emulsifier is an adduct of 5-25 moles of ethylene oxide and/or propylene oxide and 1 mole of a carboxylic acid amide.

7. A fuel according to claim 1 wherein said non-ionic emulsifier is an adduct of 1 to 20 moles of ethylene oxide and 1 mole of fatty acid amide.

8. A fuel according to claim 1 wherein said emulsifier is an adduct of 5 to 10 moles of ethylene oxide and/or propylene oxide and 1 mole of a fatty acid amide.

9. A fuel according to claim 1 wherein said emulsifier comprises an adduct of 20 to 30 moles of ethylene oxide and 1 mole of fatty acid amide.

10. A fuel according to claim 1 wherein said hydrocarbon is a saturated or unsaturated linear or a branched aliphatic hydrocarbons naphthene-based hydrocarbon or aromatic hydrocarbon.

Le A 19 300

11. A fuel according to claim 10 which is substantially free from lead, tetraalkyls and solubilizing agents thereof.

12. A fuel according to claim 1 having a specific volume resistivity of <1.1010.OMEGA..cm.