JPH01185394A - Emulsifier for heavy oil/water mixed fuel - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To produce an emulsion fuel having a high concn. and being stable for a prolonged period of time, by dispersing a heavy oil in an O/W manner using a particular polyether compd. as an emulsifier. CONSTITUTION:The title emulsifier comprises as a principal component a polyether compd. which is a reaction product of a compd. having an arom. ring and an active hydrogen in its molecule with an alkylene oxide contg. ethylene oxide as an essential component, and is an O/W emulsifier. Representative examples of the compds. having an arom. ring and an active hydrogen in its molecule include phenols (e.g., phenol), monohydric alcohols (e.g., benzyl alcohol) and polyhydric alcohols (e.g., catechol). As the alkylene oxide, ethylene oxide is used individually or in combination with other alkylene oxides (e.g., propylene oxide or butylene oxide). The aforesaid emulsifier is added in such an amt. that it is contained in the O/W emulsion in a concn. of about 0.05-2wt.%.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention is a method for dispersing and emulsifying heavy oil in water to produce oil-in-water type heavy oil and water-mixed fuel. This invention relates to emulsifiers for fuel. The mixed fuel obtained using the emulsifier of the present invention is used in general for industrial machinery and related products that use liquid fuel, but is especially effective when used in boilers, diesel engines, etc.

[Conventional technology]

Fossil fuel resources not included in crude oil, coal, and LNG that are currently attracting attention because of their large reserves include heavy oils such as oil sands and natural asphalt. These heavy oils are usually distilled under reduced pressure at 420°C.
It is a heavy oily substance containing approximately 60 to 70% or more of heavy fractions of ~450°C or higher, and has a high viscosity of tens of thousands of centipoise or higher as it is. Therefore, when used as a fuel, it is difficult to handle, atomize by spraying, etc.

These heavy oils are mixed with water to form oil droplets in water (0/W type).
If it is an emulsion, it is possible to achieve a low viscosity similar to that of water as a medium and overcome the above difficulties, but on the other hand, this lower viscosity lowers the heavy oil content, which makes it less suitable as a fuel. It's not right.

Conventionally, fatty acid ester-based or higher alcohol-based surfactants have been used as such emulsifiers.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

However, fatty acid ester-based and higher alcohol-based emulsifiers lack heavy oil emulsification performance. For example, if heavy oil emulsion fuel using these emulsifiers is imported from a foreign country, it will become coarse due to the association of heavy oil particles during transportation, and by the time it arrives in Japan, it is already undesirable as a fuel. It is often absent.

The present invention has been made in view of the current situation, and is a method of dispersing heavy oil in 0/W ffi to have a high oil concentration of 70 to 78% by weight and maintaining stability for a long period of time. The object of the present invention is to provide an emulsifier suitable for preparing an emulsion fuel.

[Failure to solve the problem]

The present invention is an oil-in-water type heavy oil, which is a water-mixed oil droplet type heavy oil whose main component is a polyether compound which is a reaction product of a compound having an aromatic ring and active hydrogen in the molecule and an alkylene oxide containing ethylene oxide as an essential component. It is an emulsifier for fuel.

The polyether compound which is the main component of the emulsifier of the present invention includes a compound having an aromatic ring and an active hydrogen in the molecule;
A copolymer obtained by polymerizing alkylene oxide containing ethylene oxide as an essential component is used. The polymerization reaction between a compound having an aromatic ring and active hydrogen in the molecule and ethylene oxide proceeds as shown in the following formula.

Here, specific examples of compounds having an aromatic ring and active hydrogen in the molecule in the present invention include the following.

■ Phenol, cresol, tert-butylphenol, octylphenol, nonylphenol, dinonylphenol, dodecylphenol, xylenol,
Phenols such as naphthol, methylnaphthol, butylnaphthol, paracumylphenol.

■ Monohydric alcohols such as benzyl alcohol.

■ Polyhydric alcohols such as catechol, resorcinol, pyrogallol, bisphenol A1, and phenol-formalin condensates.

As the alkylene oxide added to these compounds having an aromatic ring and active hydrogen in the molecule, ethylene oxide is used alone or together with other alkylene oxides.

The proportion of ethylene oxide in the total alkylene oxide is
80 to 100% by weight is suitable.

Examples of alkylene oxides other than ethylene oxide include propylene oxide and butylene oxide.

The weight average molecular weight of the polyether compound according to the present invention is preferably 400 to 200°, preferably 500 to 200°.
It is 000.

The emulsifier of the present invention can be used in a 0/w emulsion from 0.05 to
It is appropriate to add it in an amount of 2% by weight, preferably in the range of 0.1 to 1% by weight. As the heavy, highly viscous oil used as the raw material for obtaining the mixed fuel using the emulsifier of the present invention, oils containing a large amount of asphalt, which is the residue of petroleum refining, may be used in addition to natural asphalt, athabasca tumene, etc. Can be done.

A specific method for producing a mixed fuel oil emulsion of heavy oil and water using the emulsifier of the present invention is to mix heavy oil and water at respective predetermined ratios; A predetermined amount of the emulsifier of the present invention is added to the mixture and stirred to form heavy oil into fine droplets. The stirring means may be a very common paddle-type or helical ribbon-type stirring, but it is preferable to use a high-speed stirring known as a line mixer or the like. Further, good results can be obtained by using both of these stirring means in combination.

By using the emulsifier of the present invention, the viscosity of heavy oil/water emulsion fuel can be lowered and the emulsion fuel can be kept more constant than conventional emulsion fuels even during long-term storage.

An example of this will be described below.

[Example] Using the emulsifier of the present invention shown in Table 1, heavy oil, water, and emulsifier were blended as shown in Table 2, and mixed to bring the total amount to 500.
9, and then mixed for 5 minutes at a rotation speed of 6 orpm using a stirrer with double helical ribbon blades, and then mixed at 4000 rpm using a homo mixer (product name: manufactured by Tokushu Kikako Co., Ltd.).
Adjust the emulsion by mixing for 5 minutes.

The fluidity and static stability of this emulsion were evaluated by the following methods. The evaluation results are summarized in Table 2.

1) The viscosity of the emulsion whose fluidity has been adjusted is determined by measuring the viscosity with a Brookfield viscometer (20-meter cliff, 50 revolutions, measured after 1 minute), and passing a certain amount of the emulsion through a 100-mesh sieve and measuring after 10 minutes. The atomization rate was determined from the residual rate of the emulsion on the sieve (fraction on the sieve/sample emulsion amount (weight %)) obtained by measuring the amount remaining on the sieve, and was evaluated as follows.

○: Good 500 cp or less 20% or less Δ
: Insufficient 1000 cp to 500 50% to 20
;Defect 1000cp or more 50% or more2)
Static Stability The above emulsion was placed in a sealed polyethylene bottle and kept at room temperature for one month to evaluate the fluidity as described in 1) above.

Table 1 Properties of polyether compounds (Note) go: Ethylene oxide RO: Other alkylene oxides [Effects of the invention] By using the emulsifier for heavy oil/water mixed fuel of the present invention, By reducing the viscosity of water emulsion fuel,
In addition, even during long-term storage, the emulsion can be kept more stable than conventional emulsions.

Claims (1)

[Claims] An oil-in-water type emulsifier for heavy oil and water-mixed fuels whose main component is a polyether compound, which is a reaction product of a compound having an aromatic ring and active hydrogen in the molecule and an alkylene oxide containing ethylene oxide as an essential component. .