Cerium dioxide nanoparticle-containing fuel additive

Abstract

A fuel additive composition includes: a) a reverse-micellar composition having an aqueous disperse phase that includes cerium dioxide nanoparticles in a continuous phase that includes a hydrocarbon liquid, a surfactant, and optionally a co-surfactant and b) a reverse micellar composition having an aqueous disperse phase that includes a cetane improver effective for improving engine power during fuel combustion. A method of making a cerium-containing fuel additive includes the steps of: a) providing a mixture of a nonpolar solvent, a surfactant, and a co-surfactant; and b) combining the mixture with an aqueous suspension of stabilized cerium dioxide nanoparticles.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001]This application claims the benefit of priority from: U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60 / 824,514, CERIUM-CONTAINING FUEL ADDITIVE, filed Sep. 5, 2006; U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60 / 911,159, REVERSE MICELLAR FUEL ADDITIVE COMPOSITION, filed Apr. 11, 2007; and U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60 / 938,314, REVERSE MICELLAR FUEL ADDITIVE COMPOSITION, filed May 16, 2007, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0002]The present invention relates to fuel additives and, in particular, to fuel additive reverse-micellar compositions that preferably include cerium dioxide nanoparticles.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0003]Diesel fuel ranks second only to gasoline as a fuel for internal combustion engines. Trucks, buses, tractors, locomotives, ships, power generators, etc. are examples of devices that use diesel fuel. Passenger cars and sport utility vehicles are another area of potentia...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0084]The present invention is directed to a fuel additive composition that comprises: a) a reverse micellar composition comprising an aqueous disperse phase that includes stabilized, non-agglomerated cerium dioxide nanoparticles in a continuous phase comprising a hydrocarbon liquid, a surfactant, and optionally a co-surfactant; and b) a reverse micellar composition comprising an aqueous disperse phase that includes a cetane improver effective for improving engine power during fuel combustion.

[0085]The present invention is further directed to a fuel additive composition that includes: a) a reverse micellar composition comprising an aqueous disperse phase that includes nanoparticles formed in situ and comprising a cerium (IV) oxidic compound; and b) a continuous phase comprising a hydrocarbon liquid and a surfactant / stabilizer mixture; wherein the surfactant / stabilizer mixture is effective to restrain particle size, prevent particle agglomeration, and enhance the yield of the nanoparticles.

Problems solved by technology

On the other hand, too high cetane fuels can result in incomplete combustion and exhaust smoke due to too brief of an ignition delay which does not allow proper mixing of the fuel and air.

During the normal course of operation, diesel engines often develop carbon deposits on the walls of their cylinders due to incomplete combustion of fuel.

These deposits can increase engine wear and, because of friction induced by the deposits, decrease engine efficiency.

Incomplete fuel combustion can also lead to the environmentally harmful emission of particulate materials, also referred to as soot.

The maintenance concentration is effective to maintain the catalytic iron oxide layer on the combustion surfaces but insufficient to decrease timing delay in the engine.

However, this method may accelerate the aging of the engine by formation of rust.

However, fuel additives of this type, in addition to using the rare and expensive metals such as platinum, can require several months before the engine is “conditioned”.

Vehicle on-board dosing systems that dispense cerium dioxide into the fuel before it enters the engine are known, but such systems are complicated and require extensive electronic control to feed the appropriate amount of additive to the fuel.

The resulting high water content can lead to a loss in engine power and lower fuel economy.

However, current methods do not allow the economical and facile preparation of cerium nanoparticles in a short period of time at very high suspension densities (greater than 0.5 molal, i.e., 9 wt.

Cerium dioxide particles prepared using this type of mixing are often too large to be useful for certain applications.

Addition of reactants, such as cerium nitrate, an oxidant, and hydroxide ion, can result in the formation of nanoparticles.

This nucleation and growth process is not desirable if one wishes to limit the final size of the particles while still maintaining a high particle suspension density.

Such a batch reactor is not useful for producing a high yield (greater than 1 molal) of cerium dioxide nanoparticles that are very small, for example, less than 10 nm in a reasonably short reaction time (for example, less than 60 minutes).

Colloid mills are not useful for reducing the particle size of large cerium dioxide particles because the particles are too hard to be sheared by the mill in a reasonable amount of time.

This is a time consuming, expensive process that invariably produces a wide distribution of particle sizes.

Most stabilizers used to prevent agglomeration in an aqueous environment are ill suited to the task of stabilization in a nonpolar environment.

When placed in a nonpolar solvent, such particles tend to immediately agglomerate and, consequently, lose some, if not all, of their desirable nanoparticulate properties.

Changing stabilizers can involve a difficult displacement reaction or separate, tedious isolation-redispersal methods (for example, precipitation and subsequent redispersal with the new stabilizer using ball milling).

As there was no attendant measurement of engine power, the claimed 85-90% reductions in particulate emissions may have been an artifact of the loss of engine power and thus been an unacceptable trade-off of power for emissions reduction.

These types of fuel additives also have a long conditioning period.

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