Emulsifier for an aqueous hydrocarbon fuel

Abstract

A novel crosslinked emulsifier is employed to produce a stable aqueous hydrocarbon fuel emulsion.

We claim:  
     
         1 . A process for making an aqueous hydrocarbon fuel composition comprising: 
 a) mixing a liquid hydrocarbon fuel and at least one emulsifier to form a hydrocarbon fuel emulsifier mixture wherein the emulsifier comprises the reaction product of (A) a polyacidic polymer with (B) at least one fuel soluble product made by reacting at least one hydrocarbyl-substituted carboxylic acid acylating agent with ammonia, amine or a polyamine; and    b) mixing the hydrocarbon fuel emulsifier mixture with water or water and ammonium nitrate under emulsification conditions to form an aqueous hydrocarbon fuel composition, wherein the aqueous hydrocarbon fuel composition includes a discontinuous phase, the discontinuous aqueous phase being comprised of aqueous droplets having a mean diameter of 1.0 micron or less.    
     
     
         2 . The process of    claim 1    comprising: 
 a) mixing the liquid hydrocarbon fuel emulsifier mixture with at least one of an ionic or non-ionic compound having a hydrophilic-lipophilic balance of about 1-40.  
 
     
     
         3 . The process of    claim 1    wherein the emulsifier is made by reacting (A) the polyacidic polymer with (B) at least one fuel soluble product made by reacting at least one hydrocarbyl-substituted carboxylic acid acylating agent with ammonia, amine or a polyamine, and at temperatures in the range of 60° C. to about 250° C., at atmospheric temperature until a crosslinked polymer dispersant is formed.  
     
     
         4 . The process of    claim 3    wherein the crosslinked polymer dispersant is mixed with at least one of an ionic or non-ionic compound having a hydrophilic-lipophilic balance of about 1 to 40.  
     
     
         5 . The process of    claim 1    wherein the polyacidic polymer is selected from the group consisting of C 4  to C 30  olefin/maleic anhydride copolymers, maleic anhydride/styrene copolymers, polymaleic anhydride, acrylic and methacrylic acid containing polymers, poly-alkyl acrylates, maleic anhydride containing polymers with multiple double bonds and combinations thereof.  
     
     
         6 . The process of    claim 5    wherein the C4 to C30 olefin/maleic anhydride copolymer has the olefin selected from the group consisting of 1-butene, 1-pentene, 1-hexene, 1-heptene, 1-octene, 1-nonene, 1-decene, 1-undecene, 1-dodecene, 1-tridecene, 1-tetradecene, 1-pentadecene, 1-hexadecene, 1-heptadecene, 1-octadecene, 1-eicosene, 1-docosene, 1-triacontene, and the like. The alpha olefin fractions that are useful include C 15-18  alpha-olefins, C 12-16  alpha-olefins, C 14-16  alpha-olefins, C 14-18  alpha-olefins, C 16-18  alpha-olefins, C 18-24  alpha-olefins, C 18-30  alpha-olefins, and combinations thereof.  
     
     
         7 . The process of    claim 1    wherein the emulsifier is made by the reaction of the polyacidic polymer and the fuel-soluble product by a method selected from the group consisting of condensation, condensation/polymerization process, and combinations thereof.  
     
     
         8 . An aqueous hydrocarbon fuel composition comprising: 
 a) a continuous phase of hydrocarbon fuel,    b) a discontinuous aqueous phase being comprised of aqueous droplets having a mean diameter of 1.0 micron or less and    c) an emulsifying amount of an emulsifier composition comprising the reaction product of (A) a polyacidic polymer with (B) at least one fuel soluble product made by reacting at least one hydrocarbyl-substituted carboxylic acid acylating agent with ammonia, an amine or a polyamine.    
     
     
         9 . The composition of    claim 8    wherein the emulsifier comprises a mixture of 1) the reaction product of a polyacidic polymer with at least one fuel soluble product made by reacting at least one hydrocarbyl-substituted carboxylic acid acylating agent with ammonia, amine or a polyamine mixed with 2) at least one of an ionic or non-ionic compound having a hydrophilic-lipophilic balance of about 1-40.  
     
     
         10 . The composition of    claim 8    wherein the polyacidic polymer is selected from the group consisting of C 4  to C 30  olefin/maleic anhydride copolymers, maleic anhydride/styrene copolymers, polymaleic anhydride, acrylic and methacrylic acid containing polymers, poly-alkyl acrylates, maleic anhydride containing polymers with multiple double bonds and combinations thereof.  
     
     
         11 . The composition of    claim 10    wherein the C 4  to C 30  olefin/maleic anhydride copolymer has the olefin selected from the group consisting of 1-butene, 1-pentene, 1-hexene, 1-heptene, 1-octene, 1-nonene, 1-decene, 1-undecene, 1-dodecene, 1-tridecene, 1-tetradecene, 1-pentadecene, 1-hexadecene, 1-heptadecene, 1-octadecene, 1-eicosene, 1-docosene, 1-triacontene, and the like. The alpha olefin fractions that are useful include C 15-18  alpha-olefins, C 12-16  alpha-olefins, C 14-16  alpha-olefins, C 14-18  alpha-olefins, C 16-18  alpha-olefins, C 18-24  alpha-olefins, C 18-30  alpha-olefins, and combinations thereof.  
     
     
         12 . The composition of    claim 8    wherein said polyacidic polymer is selected from the group consisting of C 8  to C 20  olefin/maleic anhydride copolymers.  
     
     
         13 . The composition of    claim 8    wherein said polyacidic polymer is selected from the group consisting of 1-octadecene/maleic anhydride copolymer.  
     
     
         14 . The composition of    claim 7    wherein the polyacidic polymer is a copolymer of an olefin and a compound having the structure  
                 
 
       wherein X and X 1  are the same or different provided that at least one of X and X 1  is such that the copolymer can function as a carboxylic acylating agent.  
     
     
         15 . The composition of    claim 8    wherein the polyacidic polymer is a copolymer of octadecene-1 and maleic anhydride, the copolymer having a number average molecular weight from greater than 6300 to less than 12000.  
     
     
         16 . The composition of    claim 8    wherein the emulsifier comprises about 25% to about 95% of the fuel soluble product and about 0.1% to about 50% of polyacidic polymer.  
     
     
         17 . The composition of    claim 8    wherein the emulsifier comprises about 50% to about 92% of the fuel soluble product and about 1% to about 20% of polyacidic polymer.  
     
     
         18 . The composition of    claim 8    wherein the emulsifier comprises about 70% to about 90% of the fuel soluble product and about 5% to about 10% of polyacidic polymer.