Water-mixed fuel, additive-modified fuel oil, additive, and methods for production of the same

Abstract

[Object] To provide an additive that can achieve uniform dispersion of oil and water to improve combustion efficiency and also can stabilize the uniform dispersion of oil and water for a long period of time, an additive-modified fuel oil and a water-mixed fuel obtained by addition of the additive, and methods of producing them. [Solution] A method of producing an additive that is used for generating a water-mixed fuel or a water-unmixed modified fuel oil by being added to a fuel oil includes the steps of: dissolving a relatively low molecular weight alcohol in a fatty acid or a relatively high molecular weight alcohol to generate an intermediate product 1 ; adding a surfactant to the intermediate product 1 to generate an intermediate product 2 ; adding only an amine compound or both an amine compound and ethylene glycol to the intermediate product 2 to generate an intermediate product 3 ; and adding aqueous ammonia or gaseous ammonia to the intermediate product 3 to generate a desired additive.

1 . A method of producing an additive to be used for generating a water-mixed fuel or a water-unmixed modified fuel oil by being added to a fuel oil and for stably maintaining a uniformly mixed state for a long period of time without causing separation between oil and water, the method comprising the steps of:
 dissolving a relatively low molecular weight alcohol in a fatty acid or a relatively high molecular weight alcohol to generate an intermediate product  1 ;   adding a surfactant to the intermediate product  1  to generate an intermediate product  2 ;   adding only an amine compound or both an amine compound and ethylene glycol to the intermediate product  2  to generate an intermediate product  3 ; and   adding aqueous ammonia or gaseous ammonia to the intermediate product  3  to generate a desired additive.   
     
     
         2 . The method of producing an additive according to  claim 1 , wherein
 the fuel oil is any of gasoline, kerosene, light oil, heavy oil A, heavy oil B, heavy oil C, crude oil, vegetable oil, animal oil, waste oil, and papermaking effluent black liquor.   
     
     
         3 . The method of producing an additive according to  claim 1 , wherein
 the fatty acid is any of butyric acid, valeric acid, caproic acid, caprylic acid, capric acid, lauric acid, myristic acid, palmitic acid, stearic acid, arachidic acid, behenic acid, lignoceric acid, α-linolenic acid, stearidonic acid, eicosapentaenoic acid, docosahexaenoic acid, linoleic acid, γ-linolenic acid, dihomo-γ-linolenic acid, arachidonic acid, oleic acid, erucic acid, maleic acid, fumaric acid, and dodecanoic acid, or an ester thereof.   
     
     
         4 . The method of producing an additive according to  claim 1 , wherein
 the relatively high molecular weight alcohol is any of pentanol, hexanol, undecanol, dodecanol, and tridecanol.   
     
     
         5 . The method of producing an additive according to  claim 1 , wherein
 the relatively low molecular weight alcohol is any of methanol, ethanol, propanol, and ethylene glycol.   
     
     
         6 . The method of producing an additive according to  claim 1 , wherein
 the surfactant is a nonionic polyether surfactant selected from polyoxyalkylene branched decyl ether, polyoxyethylene monolaurate, polyoxyethylene monooleate, and polyoxyethylene polyoxypropylene alkyl ether.   
     
     
         7 . The method of producing an additive according to  claim 1 , wherein
 the amine compound is any of monoethanolamine, isopropanolamine, n-propanolamine, cyclohexylamine, and derivatives thereof.   
     
     
         8 . The method of producing an additive according to  claim 1 , wherein
 the molar mixing ratio of the fatty acid or the relatively high molecular weight alcohol; the relatively low molecular weight alcohol; the surfactant; only the amine compound or both the amine compound and ethylene glycol; and aqueous ammonia or gaseous ammonia is 1:1.0 to 1.5:0.0 to 0.7:0.3 to 0.9:0.001 to 0.7 (molar concentration), more preferably 1:1.1 to 1.4:0.4 to 0.6:0.4 to 0.8:0.003 to 0.2 (molar concentration).   
     
     
         9 . An additive produced by the method according to  claim 1 , wherein
 the raw materials of the additive at least include a fatty acid or a relatively high molecular weight alcohol; a relatively low molecular weight alcohol; a surfactant; at least one of an amine compound and ethylene glycol; and aqueous ammonia or gaseous ammonia.   
     
     
         10 . A method of producing an additive-modified fuel oil, the additive-modified fuel oil being a water-unmixed modified fuel oil being able to be formed into a water-mixed fuel by addition of water, and the method comprising the step of:
 the additive according to  claim 9  to a fuel oil to generate a desired additive-modified fuel oil.   
     
     
         11 . The method of producing an additive-modified fuel oil according to  claim 10 , wherein
 the mixing ratio of the additive and the fuel oil is 0.03 to 0.3:1 (volume), more preferably 0.05 to 0.2:1 (volume).   
     
     
         12 . An additive-modified fuel oil produced by the method according to  claim 10 , wherein
 the raw materials of the additive at least include a fatty acid or a relatively high molecular weight alcohol; a relatively low molecular weight alcohol; a surfactant; at least one of an amine compound and ethylene glycol; and aqueous ammonia or gaseous ammonia.   
     
     
         13 . A method of producing a water-mixed fuel, the method comprising the step of:
 adding water to the additive-modified fuel oil according to  claim 12  to generate a desired water-mixed fuel.   
     
     
         14 . The method of producing a water-mixed fuel according to  claim 13 , wherein
 the mixing ratio of water and the additive-modified fuel oil is 0.1 to 0.8:1 (volume), more preferably 0.2 to 0.6:1 (volume).   
     
     
         15 . A water-mixed fuel produced by the method according to  claim 13 , wherein
 the raw materials of the additive at least include a fatty acid or a relatively high molecular weight alcohol; a relatively low molecular weight alcohol; a surfactant; only an amine compound or both an amine compound and ethylene glycol; and aqueous ammonia or gaseous ammonia; and   a uniformly mixed state is stably maintained for a long period of time without causing separation between oil and water.