Cold Flow Improvement of Distillate Fuels Using Alpha-Olefin Compositions

Abstract

The cold flow of middle distillate fuels may be improved by adding an effective improving amount of one or more alpha-olefin compositions. The compositions include, but are not necessarily limited to, polymers of alpha-olefins per se, copolymerized or grafted alpha-olefins with maleic anhydride, acrylic acid, vinyl acetate, alkyl acrylates, methacrylic acid, and / or alkyl methacrylates. These resulting copolymers or grafted polymers may be blended with alkylphenol-formaldehyde resins, which in turn may be blended with ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA) copolymer. In a non-limiting example, the cold filter plugging point (CFPP) may be synergistically improved as compared with the expected additive effect of using the components separately.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION[0001]This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application 61 / 611,864 filed Mar. 16, 2012, incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.TECHNICAL FIELD[0002]The present invention relates to improving the cold flow of distillate fuels, and more particularly relates in one non-limiting embodiment to improving the cold filter plugging point of middle distillate fuels by chemical treatment.TECHNICAL BACKGROUND[0003]Upon encountering low temperatures, distillate fuels, and in particular middle distillate fuels, tend to develop fluidity problems. In one non-limiting definition, middle distillate fuels include jet fuel, kerosene, heating oil and diesel fuel. More particularly, the fluidity problems involve paraffins in the fuel agglomerate at low temperatures to form a waxy semi-solid or gel-like material that plugs pipes and filters, inhibiting transmission of the fuel to, for example, an engine.[0004]Conventionally, this pro...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0009]There is also provided in an alternative non-restrictive embodiment, a distillate fuel composition that includes a distillate fuel and an additive, where the additive may be selected from (a), (b), (c) and / or (d) noted above, in an amount effective to improve the cold flow of the distillate fuel, particularly the cold filter plugging point (CFPP) of a middle distillate fuel.

Problems solved by technology

Upon encountering low temperatures, distillate fuels, and in particular middle distillate fuels, tend to develop fluidity problems.

More particularly, the fluidity problems involve paraffins in the fuel agglomerate at low temperatures to form a waxy semi-solid or gel-like material that plugs pipes and filters, inhibiting transmission of the fuel to, for example, an engine.

Therefore, despite the apparent relationship between low temperature fluidity and pour point, they typically require different treatments.

Further, it may not be correctly assumed that a low temperature fluidity modifier will depress the pour point, or that a pour point depressant will improve low temperature fluidity.

(−12° C.) as well, thereby to interfere with the crystallization of the paraffins.

Despite the existence of a variety of low temperature fluidity modifiers, none provides completely satisfactory performance in all fuels.