JPH09302367A - Convenience gel fuel composition - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain the subject low-odor composition comprising an alkoxyalcohol and alkylene glycol, low in risk of ignition, fire or burn, easy to discriminate its combustion, excellent in storability, and useful for e.g. individual NABERYORI (food served in a pot) in e.g. a Japanese-style hotel. SOLUTION: This convenience gel fuel composition comprises (A) an alkoxyalcohol such as ethoxyethanol and (B) an alkylene glycol such as propylene glycol in the weight ratio of (20:80) to (80:20). It is preferable that this gel fuel composition is further incorporated with a carboxyvinyl polymer as a gelling agent and a small amount of an aromatic compound as a flame coloring component.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a fuel for personal cooking pots at inns, drive-ins, etc .; a portable fuel for mountain climbing, hiking, etc .; and a simple gel fuel used as an ignition agent for charcoal, coal, etc. is there.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, solid alcohol obtained by solidifying or gelling alcohols has been widely used as a simple fuel. The main components of these alcoholic solid fuels are
It is a lower alcohol such as methanol, ethanol or isopropanol.

When a metal salt of fatty acid or benzylidene sorbitol is added to these lower alcohols,
Since this mixture solidifies at room temperature, the mixture is cast or the solidified product is cut into a solid fuel.
Further, when a carboxyvinyl polymer and amines are added to these lower alcohols, the mixture gels. Therefore, the gelled composition is filled in, for example, a plastic bag or container and used as a gel fuel. are doing.

A conventional simple fuel containing a lower alcohol as a main component has the following advantages and disadvantages. That is, the ignitability and flammability are extremely good. On the other hand, since the boiling point and flash point are low, there is a high risk of ignition, fire, burns, etc .; strong odor; large loss on storage; flame is almost colorless, making it difficult to distinguish combustion. have.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention overcomes the above-mentioned drawbacks of conventional products and provides a simple gel fuel composition having good safety and storage stability. That is, the present invention has a low risk of ignition / fire, burns, etc .; and a low odor;
An object of the present invention is to provide a simple gel fuel composition in which the weight loss during storage is small;

[0006]

According to the present invention, there is provided a simple gel fuel composition containing a mixture of an alkoxy alcohol and an alkylene glycol as a main component.

The simple gel fuel composition of the present invention may contain a carboxyvinyl polymer as a gelling agent and a small amount of an aromatic compound as a flame coloring component.

[0008]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned drawbacks of conventional products, the present inventors have focused on boiling point, flash point, ignitability, flame propagation speed, odor, gelation property, etc. The composition was prepared and tested. As a result, they have found that a composition containing a mixture of an alkoxy alcohol and an alkylene glycol as a main component is excellent in combustibility, safety, storability and gelation property. Also, when a small amount of aromatic compound is added to this composition, the flame is colored,
It has been found that the determination of combustion is easy.

The flash point and boiling point of the main components are greatly involved in safety and storability, which are one of the objects of the present invention. The main components of conventional simple fuel solid alcohol are methanol,
Isopropanol and the like, and their flash points are about 12
The boiling point is 65 ° C. and the boiling point is 82 ° C., respectively. That is, this solid alcohol has a flash point of normal room temperature or lower,
High risk of ignition and fire, and large volatilization loss during storage.

On the other hand, ethoxyethanol, which is a typical example of the alkoxy alcohol used in the present invention, has a flash point of 44 ° C. and a boiling point of 135 ° C., while propylene glycol, which is a typical example of the alkylene glycol, has a flash point. It has a temperature of 99 ° C and a boiling point of 187 ° C, and both are well mixed with each other or with water. These mixtures have a flash point of 44 ° C. or higher, are safe, have good flammability, and have very little weight loss during storage.

The present invention is characterized in that the above-mentioned alkoxy alcohol and alkylene glycol are selected and used in combination. That is, although the alkoxy alcohols have good flammability, they are difficult to gel, while the alkylene glycols alone have low ignitability, and both are individually unsuitable for use as a simple fuel. By combining these, the above-mentioned various properties can be obtained as a simple gel fuel composition.

Typical examples of the alkoxy alcohol used as one component in the present invention include 2-methoxyethanol, 2-ethoxyethanol, 2-propoxyethanol, 2-butoxyethanol and the like.

Typical examples of the alkylene glycol used as the other component include ethylene glycol and propylene glycol.

Of course, alkoxy alcohols or alkylene glycols not exemplified here can also be used, but the compounds exemplified here are preferably used for the purpose of the present invention from the viewpoint of easy availability and economical reasons.

The mixing ratio (weight) of the alkoxy alcohol and the alkylene glycol is preferably 20:80 to 80:20, and particularly preferably 30:70 to 7.
0:30.

In the composition of the present invention, a small amount of water may be added to adjust the flash point or accelerate gelation. The amount of water added is suitably 3 to 20 parts by weight per 100 parts by weight of the mixture of alkoxy alcohol and alkylene glycol.

In the present invention, a liquid main component containing an alkoxy alcohol and an alkylene glycol is gelated. A carboxyvinyl polymer is the most common gelling agent, but is not particularly limited thereto. Amino derivatives, parbituric acid derivatives, triaminopyrimidine derivatives and the like are known as other gelling agents. Specific examples of the carboxyvinyl polymer include polymers or copolymers of unsaturated carboxylic acids such as (meth) acrylic acid, maleic acid and fumaric acid, such as polyacrylic acid and polymethacrylic acid.

The amount of the gelling agent used may be at least an amount capable of retaining the gel state of the obtained gelled product at room temperature and burning, and varies depending on the type of gelling agent. For example, when a carboxyvinyl polymer is used as the gelling agent, the amount used is suitably 0.3 to 3 parts by weight per 100 parts by weight of the mixture of alkoxy alcohol and alkylene glycol. When using carboxyvinyl polymer as a gelling agent, amines can be used as a gelling aid. The appropriate amount of amines used as a gelling aid is 20 to 200 parts by weight per 100 parts by weight of carboxyvinyl polymer.

In the composition of the present invention, the aromatic compound used as the flame colorant is preferably a compound having a boiling point of 220 ° C. or less under normal pressure, and a typical example thereof is, for example,
Examples thereof include alkylbenzenes such as toluene, xylene and trimethylbenzene; phenyl ethers such as methoxybenzene and ethoxybenzene; esters such as methyl benzoate and phenyl acetate.

By adding the above-mentioned aromatic compound, the flame during combustion is colored white-orange, and it becomes easy to determine whether or not it is during combustion.

The addition amount of the aromatic compound is about 0.2 parts by weight per 100 parts by weight of the mixture of the alkoxy alcohol and the alkylene glycol, and the addition effect of the aromatic compound is observed, but practically 0.5 to. 5.0 parts by weight are suitable.

The method for producing the simple gel fuel composition of the present invention is not particularly limited. In general, the main components alkoxy alcohol and alkylene glycol, if desired, an appropriate amount of water, gelling agent, flame colorant, other compounding agents, etc. are charged,
After uniformly dissolving and dispersing the whole, a gelling aid is added and stirred to obtain a simple gel fuel composition. Examples of other compounding agents include dyes and fragrances. The product is packaged in a plastic bag or other container.

[0023]

EXAMPLES Hereinafter, the present invention will be further described with reference to examples, but the present invention is not limited to these examples. In the following examples, parts are parts by weight. The flash point is a value measured by a closed system. Also, the flame propagation speed is
It was calculated from the time required to ignite one end of a fuel gel having a diameter of 6 mm and a length of 25 cm placed on a concrete plate and to propagate the flame to the other end.

[Example 1] 5 equipped with a stirrer and baffle plate
Add ethoxyethanol 1 to a 00 ml separable flask.
20g and polyacrylic acid (Wako Pure Chemicals Hibiswako)
2.0 g was added and dissolved by stirring for 3 hours. Then 56 g of propylene glycol, 4 g of xylene and 20 g of water
Was added and stirred for 30 minutes to obtain a uniform solution. To this solution, 1.4 g of triethylamine was added and vigorously stirred for 1 hour to obtain a simple gel fuel. The above gel ignited within 1 second by a gas lighter, emitted a white-orange flame, and burned well. The flash point was 49 ° C. and the flame propagation speed was 9.3 cm / min.

Example 2 A simple gel fuel was obtained by changing the charged amounts to 60 g of ethoxyethanol, 116 g of propylene glycol and 0.4 g of triethylamine, and otherwise operating in the same manner as in Example 1. The flash point of the gel is 5
At 4 ° C., the flame propagation speed was 4.4 cm / min.
Burned as well as the gel.

[Comparative Example 1] In the apparatus used in Example 1,
180 g of methanol, 20 g of water and polyacrylic acid 2.
0 g was added and the mixture was stirred for 10 hours to form a uniform solution. To this solution, 0.6 g of triethylamine was added and vigorously stirred for 1 hour to obtain a simple gel fuel of a conventional method. The gel was instantly ignited by a gas lighter and emitted an extremely weak blue flame to burn. The flash point of this gel was 12 ° C., and the flame propagation speed was 1000 cm / min or more.

[0027]

According to the present invention, by using a combination of alkoxy alcohol and alkylene glycol as a main component of a simple gel fuel composition, the flash point and the boiling point are high, and there is a risk of ignition, fire, burns, etc. There is provided a simple gel fuel composition which has less fuel consumption, has good storability, and can be easily discriminated whether or not it is burning.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A simple gel fuel composition containing a mixture of an alkoxy alcohol and an alkylene glycol as a main component. 2. The simple gel fuel composition according to claim 1, which contains the alkoxy alcohol and the alkylene glycol in a weight ratio of 20:80 to 80:20. 3. The simple gel fuel composition according to claim 1, which contains a carboxyvinyl polymer as a gelling agent. 4. The simple gel fuel composition according to claim 1, which contains a small amount of an aromatic compound as a flame coloring component.