Fuel Oil Additives for HVO Blend Cold-Flow
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Solution Overview
Problem
The addition of hydrotreated vegetable oils (HVO) to petroleum-derived diesel fuels disrupts the n-alkane distribution, making it difficult to treat with conventional cold-flow additives, especially in regions where low-temperature performance is crucial, as it creates a 'spike' in the distribution that renders the fuel untreatable.
Innovation Solution
A fuel oil composition comprising a blend of middle-distillate fuel oil and hydrotreated vegetable, animal, or fish oil, with specific combinations of ethylene-vinyl ester polymer and polyalkylmethacrylate polymer additives, which improve low-temperature properties by adjusting the C15 to C20 n-alkane distribution, thereby enhancing the fuel's ability to flow and preventing wax crystallization issues.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If HVO is added to petroleum-derived diesel fuel to provide a renewable fuel blend, then the fuel becomes more environmentally friendly, but the n-alkane distribution is disrupted creating a spike that renders the fuel untreatable with conventional cold-flow additives
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the chemical structure parameters of cold-flow additives by using ethylene-vinyl ester polymers with specific vinyl ester content (5-30 mole%) and polyalkylmethacrylate polymers with specific alkyl group characteristics. These parameter changes enable the additives to effectively treat the spiked n-alkane distribution caused by HVO blending, resolving the contradiction between renewable fuel capability and treatability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs composite additive systems combining ethylene-vinyl ester polymers and polyalkylmethacrylate polymers in specific ratios. This composite approach creates synergistic effects that enable effective cold-flow improvement in HVO-diesel blends, overcoming the limitation of conventional single-additive approaches on spiked n-alkane distributions.
2Reliability
If conventional cold-flow additives are used to depress pour point and reduce wax crystal size, then low-temperature flowability is improved, but they become ineffective when HVO is present due to the altered n-alkane distribution
Solution Approach 1:
The patent modifies the molecular parameters of cold-flow additives by selecting ethylene-vinyl ester polymers with specific vinyl ester content (5-30 mole%) and polyalkylmethacrylate polymers with specific alkyl chain lengths. These parameter changes enable the additives to effectively interact with the spiked n-alkane distribution from HVO, maintaining reliability in low-temperature flowability while adapting to HVO blends.
3Temperature
If the n-alkane distribution is adjusted to improve low-temperature performance, then pour point is depressed, but the addition of HVO creates a spike in the distribution that counteracts these improvements
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the compositional parameters of the fuel system by introducing specific polymers (ethylene-vinyl ester with 5-30 mole% vinyl ester content and polyalkylmethacrylate with specific alkyl groups) that selectively interact with the spiked n-alkane fraction from HVO. This enables pour point depression while maintaining compositional stability despite HVO addition.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The combination of ethylene-vinyl ester and polyalkylmethacrylate polymers effectively improves the low-temperature performance of diesel-HVO blends by depressing the Cold Filter Plugging Point (CFPP) and preventing wax crystallization, allowing for better flow and reduced clogging, even in regions with low temperatures.
Implementation Method 1
Fuel oils derived from petroleum sources contain n- alkanes that at low temperatures, tend to precipitate as large, plate-like crystals or spherulites of wax
Implementation Method 2
The wax crystals that form tend to form a gel structure which causes the fuel oil to lose its ability to flow
Data Source
AI summary
A fuel oil composition comprises a fuel oil blend, at least one ethylene-vinyl ester polymer and at least one polyalkylmethacrylate polymer. The fuel oil blend comprises a middle-distillate fuel oil and a hydrotreated vegetable, animal or fish oil, wherein the amount of hydrotreated vegetable oil in the fuel oil blend is sufficient to provide the blend with an increase in the C15 to C20 n-alkane distribution of at least 3% by weight over the C15 to C20 n-alkane distribution of the middle-distillate alone.