Emulsifier package with a branched and optionally with a propoxylated surfactant for fuel emulsion

Abstract

A method for powering a diesel engine with a fuel emulsion involves preparing the fuel emulsion by emulsifying a fuel and water in the presence of an emulsifier package, which contains a branched surfactant of the formula (I) as defined below and optionally, a propoxylated surfactant of the formula (II) as defined below. A fuel emulsion for powering a diesel engine is also provided.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is the National Stage entry under § 371 of International Application No. PCT/EP2021/079627, filed on Oct. 26, 2021, and which claims the benefit of priority to European Application No. 20205720.4, filed on Nov. 4, 2020, and European Application No. 20207016.5, filed on Nov. 11, 2020. The content of each of these applications is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

The present invention relates to a method for powering a diesel engine with a fuel emulsion comprising the step of preparing the fuel emulsion by emulsifying a fuel and water in the presence of an emulsifier package which comprises a branched surfactant of the formula (I) as defined below and optionally a propoxylated surfactant of the formula (II) as defined below. It further relates to a fuel emulsion for powering a diesel engine.

Aqueous fuel emulsions are known for powering diesel engines.

Object of the present invention was to find an emulsifier package for fuel emulsions, which is cheap, easy to prepare, storage stable, based on commercial available emulsifiers, based only on carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen and oxygen, and allow for fast and easy emulsification even with low shear forces. The emulsifier package should result in a low foaming fuel emulsion, it should have a low cloud point, provide corrosion protection, have low foaming, improve filterability of the emulsion, and reduce precipitate when mixing the fuel with water. The emulsifier package should stabilize the fuel emulsion at high water concentrations, at various temperatures and pressures, with various types of water.

The object was achieved by a method for powering a diesel engine with a fuel emulsion comprising the step of preparing the fuel emulsion by emulsifying a fuel and water in the presence of an emulsifier package which comprises a branched surfactant of the formula (I)R^a—O-(AO^a)_m—R^a′  (I)in which

• • R^a is a branched C_6-32 alkyl,
  • AO^a is an ethylene oxide radical, propylene oxide radical, butylene oxide radical, pentylene oxide radical, styrene oxide radical or mixtures thereof,
  • m is a number from 1 to 100, and
  • R^a′ is hydrogen or C_1-4 alkyl; andthe emulsifier package additionally comprises a propoxylated surfactant of the formula (II)R^b—O-(AO^b)_n—R^b′  (II)in which
  • R^b is a linear or branched C_6-32 alkyl,
  • AO^b is a mixture of ethylene oxide radical and propylene oxide radical,
  • n is a number from 1 to 100 and
  • R^b′ is hydrogen or C_1-4 alkyl.

The object was also achieved by the fuel emulsion for powering a diesel engine.

The fuel usually comprises hydrocarbons, such as alkanes, cycloalkanes and aromatics. The fuel may be obtained from petroleum distillation as distillate or residue. The fuels is usually a liquid fuel. Examples of fuels are gasoline, diesel or biodiesel or mixtures thereof, wherein gasoline or diesel are preferred. In particular the fuel is diesel. The gasoline may contain mainly C4 to C12 hydrocarbons of alkanes, alkenes and cycloalkanes. The diesel may contain saturated hydrocarbons and aromatic hydrocarbons. The biodiesel typically includes lower alkyl fatty acid esters, prepared, for example, by transesterifying trigycerides with lower alcohols, e.g. methanol or ethanol.

The viscosity of the fuel can vary in a broad range, such as in the range from 1 to 10,000 mm²/s at 40° C. (ISO 3104) or 1 to 1000 mm²/s at 50° C. (ISO 3104).

The fuel may be a marine fuel, such as MGO (Marine gas oil), MDO (Marine diesel oil), IFO (Intermediate fuel oil), MFO (Marine fuel oil), or HFO (Heavy fuel oil). Further examples for marine fuel are IFO 380 (an Intermediate fuel oil with a maximum viscosity of 380 centistokes (<3.5% sulphur)), IFO 180 (an Intermediate fuel oil with a maximum viscosity of 180 centistokes (<3.5% sulphur)), LS 380 (a Low-sulphur (<1.0%) intermediate fuel oil with a maximum viscosity of 380 centistokes), LS 180 (a Low-sulphur (<1.0%) intermediate fuel oil with a maximum viscosity of 180 centistokes), LSMGO (a Low-sulphur (<0.1%) Marine Gas Oil, which is often be used in European Ports and Anchorages according to EU Sulphur directive 2005/33/EC), or ULSMGO (a Ultra-Low-Sulphur Marine Gas Oil, also referred to as Ultra-Low-Sulfur Diesel (sulphur 0.0015% max). Further suitable marine fuels are according to DIN ISO 8217 of the category ISO-F-DMX, DMA, DFA, DMZ, DFZ, or DFB, or ISO-F RMA, RMB, RMD, RME, RMG, or RMK. Further suitable marine fuel is distillate marine diesel or residual marine diesel.

The viscosity of the fuel, such as the marine fuel, can vary in a broad range, such as in the range from 1 to 10,000 mm²/s at 40° C. (ISO 3104) or 1 to 1000 mm²/s at 50° C. (ISO 3104). The fuel emulsion may contain at least 10, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 50 or 60 wt % of the fuel. The fuel emulsion may contain up to 30, 40, 50 or 60 wt % of the fuel. The fuel emulsion may contain 10 to 70 wt %, 20 to 60 wt %, or 30 to 50 wt % of the fuel.

For ecological reasons low sulfur fuel are of increasing interest. Suitable low sulfur fuels may contain less than 1, 0.5, 0.2, or 0.1 wt % sulfur. An example is Shell® ULSFO with less than 0.1 wt % sulfur. The diesel mainly used for cars may have a sulfur content of up to 2000 ppm, 500 ppm, 350 ppm, 50 ppm or 10 ppm.

Any kind of water can be used, such as tap water, well water, sea water, oceanic water, rain water, distilled water, waste water, or deionized water. Preferred is water with low chlorine concentration to avoid corrosion, such as tap water, distilled water or rain water.

The water may have a low hardness, e.g. as expressed by ° dH (degree of German hardness) below 8.4° dH, or a concentration of less than 1.5 mmol/1 calcium carbonate.

The water may have a low salinity, such as up to 1000, 500, 100, 10, or 1 ppmw, e.g. based on the concentration of NaCl.

The fuel emulsion may contain at least 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 55, 60, 65 or 70 wt % of the water.

The fuel emulsion may contain up to 50, 60, 70, 75, 80, 85 or 90 wt % of the water. The fuel emulsion may contain 30 to 90 wt %, 40 to 80 wt %, or 50 to 80 wt % of the water.

The weight ratio of the water to the fuel can be in the range of 1:0.1 to 1:10, or 1:0.2 to 1:5, or 1:0.7 to 1:3, or preferably 1:0.1 to 1:1 The fuel emulsion can be an oil-in-water emulsion or a water-in-oil emulsion, where the oil-in-water emulsion is preferred.

The fuel emulsion may be a macroemulsion, miniemulsion or microemulsion, where the macroemulsion is preferred.

The dispersed phase (e.g. the fuel) in the fuel emulsion may have a diameter of 0.01 to 100 μm, preferably from 1 to 100 μm.

The fuel emulsion may be present at a temperature from 0 to 100° C., preferably from 15 to 90° C.

The fuel emulsion may be present at a pressure from 1 to 100 bar, preferably from 1 to 10 bar.

The emulsifier package comprises a branched surfactant of the formula (I)R^a—O-(AO^a)_m—R^a′  (I)in which

• • R^a is a branched C_6-32 alkyl,
  • AO^a is an ethylene oxide radical, propylene oxide radical, butylene oxide radical, pentylene oxide radical, styrene oxide radical or mixtures thereof,
  • m is a number from 1 to 100, and
  • R^a′ is hydrogen or C_1-4 alkyl.

R^a is preferably a branched C_8-22 alkyl. In another preferred form R^a is a branched C_8-14 alkyl. In another preferred form R^a is a branched C_10-14 alkyl. Suitable R^a are for example iso-hexyl-, iso-octyl, such as for example 2-ethyl-hexyl, isononyl, iso-decyl such as trimethyl heptyl or 2-propylheptyl, isostearyl. R^a is in particular a branched tridecyl, such as isotridecyl. R^a may be a technical mixture of various chain lengths and isomers. R^a is in another particular form a branched C₁₀, such as C₁₀ oxoalcohol. R^a is in another particular form a branched C₁₀ or branched C₁₃.

AO^a can be an ethylene oxide radical, propylene oxide radical, butylene oxide radical, or mixtures thereof. AO^a is preferably an ethylene oxide radical. The alkoxy units (e.g. EO and PO units) of AO^a can be in a block sequence or in statistically sequence, preferably in a diblock sequence. The molar ratio of ethylene oxide radical to other alkylene oxide radicals present in AO^a (e.g. propylene oxide radical) can be in the range of 50:1 to 1:2, or 10:1 to 1:1, or 5:1 to 1:1.

m can be a number from 1 to 80, 2 to 80, or 3 to 60. In another form m can be a number from 1 to 30, 1 to 25, 1 to 20, 1 to 15, or 1 to 10. In another form m can be a number from 2 to 25, 2 to 15, 3 to 15, or 3 to 10. In another form m can be a number from 15 to 100, 20 to 70, or 25 to 60. In another form m is at least 1, 2, 3, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 or 30. In another form m is up to 80, 70, 60, 50, 40, 30, 20, 15, 10, 5.

R^a′ can be hydrogen or methyl, preferably hydrogen.

In a preferred form R^a is a branched C_8-14 alkyl, AO^a is an ethylene oxide radical, m is a number from 2 to 25 and R^a′ is hydrogen or methyl.

In another preferred form R^a is a branched C_8-14 alkyl, AO^a is an ethylene oxide radical, m is a number from 2 to 15 and R^a′ is hydrogen.

In a preferred form R^a is a branched C_10-14 alkyl (such as isotridecyl), AO^a is an ethylene oxide radical, m is a number from 2 to 25 and R^a′ is hydrogen or methyl.

In another preferred form R^a is a branched C_8-14 alkyl, AO^a is an ethylene oxide radical, m is a number from 2 to 80 and R^a′ is hydrogen or methyl.

In another preferred form R^a is a branched C_8-14 alkyl, AO^a is an ethylene oxide radical, m is a number from 2 to 70 and R^a′ is hydrogen.

In another preferred form R^a is a branched C_10-14 alkyl (such as isotridecyl), AO^a is an ethylene oxide radical, m is a number from 20 to 60 and R^a′ is hydrogen or methyl.

The emulsifier package comprises in a preferred form additionally a propoxylated surfactant of the formula (II)R^b—O-(AO^b)_n—R^b′  (II)in which

• • R^b is a linear or branched C_6-32 alkyl,
  • AO^b is a mixture of ethylene oxide radical and propylene oxide radical,
  • n is a number from 1 to 100 and
  • R^b′ is hydrogen or C_1-4 alkyl.

The emulsifier package comprises in another preferred form the branched surfactant of the formula (I) and the propoxylated surfactant of the formula (II).

R^b is preferably a linear C_8-22 alkyl. In another preferred form R^b is a linear C_10-20 alkyl. In another preferred form R^b is a linear C_12-18 alkyl. In another preferred form R^b is a linear C_14-18 alkyl. In another preferred form R^b is a linear C_16-18 alkyl. In another preferred form R^b is linear or branched C_8-22 alkyl, In another preferred form R^b is a linear or branched C_10-20 alkyl. In another preferred form R^b is a linear or branched C_12-18 alkyl. In another preferred form R^b is a linear or branched C_14-18 alkyl. In another preferred form R^b is a linear or branched C_16-18 alkyl. R^b may be a technical mixture of various chain lengths and isomers.

AO^b is a mixture of ethylene oxide radical and propylene oxide radical, with preferably no further alkylene oxide radicals. The alkoxy units (e.g. EO and PO units) of AO^b can be in a block sequence or in statistically sequence, preferably in diblock sequence. The molar ratio of ethylene oxide radical to other alkylene oxide radicals present in AO^b (e.g. propylene oxide radical) can be in the range of 50:1 to 1:2, or 10:1 to 1:1, or 5:1 to 1:1.

n can be a number from 1 to 80, 2 to 80, or 3 to 60. In another form n can be a number from 1 to 30, 1 to 25, 1 to 20, 1 to 15, or 1 to 10. In another form n can be a number from 2 to 25, 2 to 15, 3 to 15, or 3 to 10. In another form n can be a number from 15 to 100, 20 to 70, or 25 to 60. In another form n is at least 1, 2, 3, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 or 30. In another form n is up to 80, 70, 60, 50, 40, 30, 20, 15, 10, 5.

R^b′ can be hydrogen or methyl, preferably hydrogen. Preferably, R^a′ and R^b′ are hydrogen.

In a preferred form R^b is a linear C_14-18 alkyl, AO^b is a mixture of ethylene oxide radical and propylene oxide radical, n is a number from 1 to 25 and R^b′ is hydrogen or methyl.

In another preferred form R^b is a linear C_16-18 alkyl, AO^b is a mixture of ethylene oxide radical and propylene oxide radical, n is a number from 1 to 15 and R^b′ is hydrogen.

In another preferred form R^b is a linear C_14-18 alkyl, AO^b is a mixture of ethylene oxide radical and propylene oxide radical, n is a number from 1 to 80 and R^b′ is hydrogen or methyl.

In another preferred form R^b is a linear C_16-18 alkyl, AO^b is a mixture of ethylene oxide radical and propylene oxide radical, n is a number from 2 to 60 and R^b′ is hydrogen.

In another preferred form R^a is a branched C_8-14 alkyl, AO^a is an ethylene oxide radical, m is a number from 2 to 25 and R^a′ is hydrogen or methyl, and

• • R^b is a linear C_14-18 alkyl, AO^b is a mixture of ethylene oxide radical and propylene oxide radical, n is a number from 1 to 25 and R^b′ is hydrogen or methyl.

In another preferred form R^a is a branched C_8-14 alkyl, AO^a is an ethylene oxide radical, m is a number from 2 to 15 and R^a′ is hydrogen, and

• • R^b is a linear C_14-18 alkyl, AO^b is a mixture of ethylene oxide radical and propylene oxide radical, n is a number from 1 to 25 and R^b′ is hydrogen or methyl.

In another preferred form R^a is a branched C_10-14 alkyl (such as isotridecyl), AO^a is an ethylene oxide radical, m is a number from 2 to 25 and R^a′ is hydrogen or methyl, and

• • R^b is a linear C_14-18 alkyl, AO^b is a mixture of ethylene oxide radical and propylene oxide radical,
  • n is a number from 1 to 15 and R^b′ is hydrogen.

In another preferred form R^a is a branched C_8-14 alkyl, AO^a is an ethylene oxide radical, m is a number from 2 to 25 and R^a′ is hydrogen or methyl, and

• • R^b is a linear C_14-18 alkyl, AO^b is a mixture of ethylene oxide radical and propylene oxide radical,
  • n is a number from 1 to 25 and R^b′ is hydrogen or methyl, and
  • the emulsifier package comprises the branched surfactant and the propoxylated surfactant in a weight ratio of 10:1 to 1:10, 4:1 to 1:4, or 2:1 to 1:2.

In another preferred form R^a is a branched C_8-14 alkyl, AO^a is an ethylene oxide radical, m is a number from 2 to 15 and R^a′ is hydrogen, and

• • R^b is a linear C_14-18 alkyl, AO^b is a mixture of ethylene oxide radical and propylene oxide radical,
  • n is a number from 1 to 25 and R^b′ is hydrogen or methyl, and
  • the emulsifier package comprises the branched surfactant and the propoxylated surfactant in a weight ratio of 10:1 to 1:10, 4:1 to 1:4, or 2:1 to 1:2.

In another preferred form R^a is a branched C_10-14 alkyl (such as isotridecyl), AO^a is an ethylene oxide radical, m is a number from 2 to 25 and R^a′ is hydrogen or methyl, and

• • R^b is a linear C_16-18 alkyl, AO^b is a mixture of ethylene oxide radical and propylene oxide radical,
  • n is a number from 1 to 15 and R^b′ is hydrogen, and
  • the emulsifier package comprises the branched surfactant and the propoxylated surfactant in a weight ratio of 10:1 to 1:10, 4:1 to 1:4, or 2:1 to 1:2.

In another preferred form R^a is a branched C_8-14 alkyl, AO^a is an ethylene oxide radical, m is a number from 1 to 80 and R^a′ is hydrogen or methyl, and

• • R^b is a linear C_14-18 alkyl, AO^b is a mixture of ethylene oxide radical and propylene oxide radical,
  • n is a number from 1 to 80 and R^b′ is hydrogen or methyl.

In another preferred form R^a is a branched C_8-14 alkyl, AO^a is an ethylene oxide radical, m is a number from 2 to 80 and R^a′ is hydrogen, and

• • R^b is a linear C_14-18 alkyl, AO^b is a mixture of ethylene oxide radical and propylene oxide radical,
  • n is a number from 1 to 80 and R^b′ is hydrogen or methyl.

In another preferred form R^a is a branched C_10-14 alkyl (such as isotridecyl), AO^a is an ethylene oxide radical, m is a number from 15 to 80 and R^a′ is hydrogen or methyl, and

• • R^b is a linear C_16-18 alkyl, AO^b is a mixture of ethylene oxide radical and propylene oxide radical,
  • n is a number from 1 to 30 and R^b′ is hydrogen.

In another preferred form R^a is a branched C_8-14 alkyl, AO^a is an ethylene oxide radical, m is a number from 1 to 80 and R^a′ is hydrogen or methyl, and

• • R^b is a linear C_14-18 alkyl, AO^b is a mixture of ethylene oxide radical and propylene oxide radical,
  • n is a number from 1 to 80 and R^b′ is hydrogen or methyl, and
  • the emulsifier package comprises the branched surfactant and the propoxylated surfactant in a weight ratio of 10:1 to 1:10, 4:1 to 1:4, or 2:1 to 1:2.

In another preferred form R^a is a branched C_8-14 alkyl, AO^a is an ethylene oxide radical, m is a number from 2 to 80 and R^a′ is hydrogen, and

• • R^b is a linear C_14-18 alkyl, AO^b is a mixture of ethylene oxide radical and propylene oxide radical,
  • n is a number from 1 to 80 and R^b′ is hydrogen or methyl, and
  • the emulsifier package comprises the branched surfactant and the propoxylated surfactant in a weight ratio of 10:1 to 1:10, 4:1 to 1:4, or 2:1 to 1:2.

In another preferred form R^a is a branched C_10-14 alkyl (such as isotridecyl), AO^a is an ethylene oxide radical, m is a number from 20 to 70 and R^a′ is hydrogen or methyl, and

• • R^b is a linear C_16-18 alkyl, AO^b is a mixture of ethylene oxide radical and propylene oxide radical,
  • n is a number from 1 to 20 and R^b′ is hydrogen, and
  • the emulsifier package comprises the branched surfactant and the propoxylated surfactant in a weight ratio of 10:1 to 1:10, 4:1 to 1:4, or 2:1 to 1:2.

The emulsifier package may comprise the branched surfactant and the propoxylated surfactant in a weight ratio of 20:1 to 1:20, or 10:1 to 1:10, 4:1 to 1:4, 3:1 to 1:3, or 2:1 to 1:2.

In another form the emulsifier package may comprise the branched surfactant and the propoxylated surfactant in a weight ratio of 20:1 to 1:3, or 10:1 to 1:2, 4:1 to 1:1, or 4:1 to 2:1.

In another form the emulsifier package may comprise the propoxylated surfactant and the branched surfactant in a weight ratio of 20:1 to 1:3, or 10:1 to 1:2, 4:1 to 1:1, or 4:1 to 2:1.

The emulsifier package may comprise the branched surfactant or the propoxylated surfactant in certain percentages by weight, which may be calculated based on the total amount of surfactants (e.g. the branched and the propoxylated surfactants) present in the emulsifier package.

The emulsifier package may comprise at least 0.1, 0.5, 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 30 or 40 wt % of the branched surfactant.

The emulsifier package may comprise up to 100, 90, 80, 70, 60, 50, 40, 30, 20, 10 or 5 wt % of the branched surfactant.

The emulsifier package may comprise 0.1 to 20 wt %, or 0.5 to 10 wt %, or 1 to 5 of the branched surfactant. In another form the emulsifier package may comprise 1 to 99 wt %, 5 to 90 wt %, 10 to 80 wt %, or 20 to 70 wt % of the branched surfactant.

The emulsifier package may comprise 0.1 to 20 wt %, or 0.5 to 10 wt %, or 1 to 5 of the branched surfactant, where R^a is a branched C_8-14 alkyl, AO^a is an ethylene oxide radical, m is a number from 2 to 25 and R^a′ is hydrogen or methyl.

The emulsifier package may comprise 0.1 to 20 wt %, or 0.5 to 10 wt %, or 1 to 5 of the branched surfactant, where R^a is a branched C_10-14 alkyl (such as isotridecyl), AO^a is an ethylene oxide radical, m is a number from 2 to 25 and R^a′ is hydrogen or methyl.

In another form the emulsifier package may comprise 1 to 99 wt %, 5 to 90 wt %, 10 to 80 wt %, or 20 to 70 wt % of the branched surfactant, where R^a is a branched C_8-14 alkyl, AO^a is an ethylene oxide radical, m is a number from 2 to 25 and R^a′ is hydrogen or methyl.

In another form the emulsifier package may comprise 1 to 99 wt %, 5 to 90 wt %, 10 to 80 wt %, or 20 to 70 wt % of the branched surfactant, where R^a is a branched C_10-14 alkyl (such as isotridecyl), AO^a is an ethylene oxide radical, m is a number from 2 to 25 and R^a′ is hydrogen or methyl.

The emulsifier package may comprise 0.1 to 20 wt %, or 0.5 to 10 wt %, or 1 to 5 of the branched surfactant, where R^a is a branched C_8-14 alkyl, AO^a is an ethylene oxide radical, m is a number from 2 to 80 and R^a′ is hydrogen or methyl.

The emulsifier package may comprise 0.1 to 20 wt %, or 0.5 to 10 wt %, or 1 to 5 of the branched surfactant, where R^a is a branched C_10-14 alkyl (such as isotridecyl), AO^a is an ethylene oxide radical, m is a number from 2 to 60 and R^a′ is hydrogen or methyl.

In another form the emulsifier package may comprise 1 to 99 wt %, 5 to 90 wt %, 10 to 80 wt %, or 20 to 70 wt % of the branched surfactant, where R^a is a branched C_8-14 alkyl, AO^a is an ethylene oxide radical, m is a number from 15 to 80 and R^a′ is hydrogen or methyl.

In another form the emulsifier package may comprise 1 to 99 wt %, 5 to 90 wt %, 10 to 80 wt %, or 20 to 70 wt % of the branched surfactant, where R^a is a branched C_10-14 alkyl (such as isotridecyl), AO^a is an ethylene oxide radical, m is a number from 20 to 60 and R^a′ is hydrogen or methyl.

The emulsifier package may comprise at least 0.1, 0.5, 2, 5, 10, 20, 30 or 40 wt % of the propoxylated surfactant.

The emulsifier package may comprise up to 90, 80, 70, 60, 50, 40, 30, 20, 10 or 5 wt % of the propoxylated surfactant.

The emulsifier package may comprise 0.1 to 20 wt %, or 0.5 to 10 wt %, or 1 to 5 of the propoxylated surfactant. In another form the emulsifier package may comprise 1 to 99 wt %, 5 to 90 wt %, 10 to 80 wt %, or 20 to 70 wt % of the propoxylated surfactant.

The emulsifier package may comprise at least 0.1, 0.5 or 2 wt % of the propoxylated surfactant, where R^b is a linear C_16-18 alkyl, AO^b is a mixture of ethylene oxide radical and propylene oxide radical, n is a number from 1 to 15 and R^a′ is hydrogen or methyl.

The emulsifier package may comprise up to 40, 30, 20, 10 or 5 wt % of the propoxylated surfactant, where R^b is a linear C_16-18 alkyl, AO^b is a mixture of ethylene oxide radical and propylene oxide radical, n is a number from 1 to 15 and R^a′ is hydrogen.

In another form the emulsifier package may comprise 1 to 99 wt %, 5 to 90 wt %, 10 to 80 wt %, or 20 to 70 wt % of the propoxylated surfactant, where R^b is a linear C_16-18 alkyl, AO^b is a mixture of ethylene oxide radical and propylene oxide radical, n is a number from 1 to 15 and R^a′ is hydrogen or methyl.

In another form the emulsifier package may comprise 1 to 99 wt %, 5 to 90 wt %, 10 to 80 wt %, or 20 to 70 wt % of the propoxylated surfactant, where R^b is a linear C_16-18 alkyl, AO^b is a mixture of ethylene oxide radical and propylene oxide radical, n is a number from 1 to 15 and R^a′ is hydrogen.

The emulsifier package may comprise at least 0.1, 0.5 or 2 wt % of the propoxylated surfactant, where R^b is a linear C_16-18 alkyl, AO^b is a mixture of ethylene oxide radical and propylene oxide radical, n is a number from 1 to 80 and R^a′ is hydrogen or methyl.

The emulsifier package may comprise up to 40, 30, 20, 10 or 5 wt % of the propoxylated surfactant, where R^b is a linear C_16-18 alkyl, AO^b is a mixture of ethylene oxide radical and propylene oxide radical, n is a number from 1 to 80 and R^a′ is hydrogen.

In another form the emulsifier package may comprise 1 to 99 wt %, 5 to 90 wt %, 10 to 80 wt %, or 20 to 70 wt % of the propoxylated surfactant, where R^b is a linear C_16-18 alkyl, AO^b is a mixture of ethylene oxide radical and propylene oxide radical, n is a number from 2 to 70 and R^a′ is hydrogen or methyl.

In another form the emulsifier package may comprise 1 to 99 wt %, 5 to 90 wt %, 10 to 80 wt %, or 20 to 70 wt % of the propoxylated surfactant, where R^b is a linear C_16-18 alkyl, AO^b is a mixture of ethylene oxide radical and propylene oxide radical, n is a number from 2 to 60 and R^a′ is hydrogen.

The emulsifier package may comprise at least 0.5, 2 or 5 wt % of the sum of the branched surfactant and the propoxylated surfactant.

The emulsifier package may comprise up to 100, 90, 80, 70, 60, 50, 40, 30, 20, 15, or 10 wt % of the sum of the branched surfactant and the propoxylated surfactant.

The emulsifier package may comprise 1 to 90 wt %, 1 to 60 wt %, 1 to 35 wt %, or 2 to 20 wt %, or 5 to 12 of the sum of the branched surfactant and the propoxylated surfactant.

The emulsifier package may comprise further nonionic surfactants, such as alkoxylates which are different from the branched surfactant and from the propoxylated surfactant, alkylglucosides and alkyl polygucosides, or partial esters (such as mono-, di- and triesters) of fatty acids with glycerine or sorbitan (such as glycerine monostearate, sorbitanmonooleat, sorbitantristearat).

Suitable alkoxylates which are different from the branched surfactant and from the propoxylated surfactant are

• • alkoxylated alkylphenols, such as ethoxylated nonylphenyl, ethoxylated dodecylphenyl, ethoxylated isotridecylphenol and the esters thereof, e.g. the acetates
  • block-copolymers of ethyleneoxide and propyleneoxide,
  • ethoxylated alkylglucosides and alkyl polyglucosides,
  • ethoxylated fatty amines,
  • ethoxylated fatty acids,
  • ethoxylated partial esters of fatty acids with glycerine or sorbitan, such as ethoxylated glycerine monostearate
  • ethoxylates of vegetable oils or animal fats, such as corn oil ethoxylate, castor oil ethoxylate, tallow oil ethoxylate,
  • ethoxylates of fatty amines or of fatty amides.

The emulsifier package contains usually up to 50, 40, 30, 20, 10, 5, or 1 wt % of a further nonionic surfactant. The emulsifier package contains usually at least to 1, 5, 10, 20, 30, or 40 wt % of a further nonionic surfactant.

In another form the emulsifier package is free of ethoxylated fatty acids. In another form the emulsifier package is free of fatty acid amides. In another form the emulsifier package is free of ethoxylated castor oil. In another form the emulsifier package is free of fatty acid amides, ethoxylated fatty acids and ethoxylated castor oil.

The emulsifier package is contains usually up to 10, 8, 5, 4, 3, 2 or 1 wt % of the sum of all ionic surfactants, e.g. an anionic or cationic surfactant. In another form the emulsifier package is free of any ionic surfactant. The emulsifier package is contains usually a lower weight amount of the sum of all ionic surfactants than the sum of branched surfactant and the propoxylated surfactant. The sum of the weight amount of the branched surfactant and the propoxylated surfactant is usually in a 1, 1.5, or 2 fold excess of the sum of all ionic surfactants.

The emulsifier package is usually an aqueous emulsifier package, that usually comprises water. The emulsifier package may comprise at least 1, 5, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, or 90 wt % of water, usually based on the total weight of the emulsifier package.

In another form the emulsifier package is essentially free of water and contains for example less than 10, 8, 6, 4, 2, 1 or 0.2 wt % water.

The emulsifier package is usually liquid, solid, or a gel at 20° C., preferably it is a liquid.

The emulsifier package may comprise an organic solvent, which is preferably miscible with water (e.g. at 20° C. in an amount of at least 10 wt %). Suitable organic solvents are ethers (e.g. glykol ether), ketones, or alcohols, where ether (especially glylkol ether) are preferred.

Preferred organic solvents are glykol ether, such as methyldiglykol, methyltriglykol, methyltetraglykol, butyltriglykol, butylglykol, butyldiglykol, and hexyldiglykol.

The emulsifier package may comprise up to 90, 80, 70, 60, 50, 40, 30, 20, 15, or 10 wt % of the organic solvent, such as the glykol ether.

The emulsifier package may comprise at least 1, 5, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, or 90 wt % of the organic solvent, usually based on the total weight of the emulsifier package.

The emulsifier package may comprise 0.5 to 30 or 1 to 15 wt % of the organic solvent, such as the glykol ether.

In another form the emulsifier package may comprise water, the organic solvent, or a mixture of water and the organic solvent. In another form the emulsifier package may comprise at least 1, 5, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, or 90 wt % of water, the organic solvent, or a mixture of water and the organic solvent.

The fuel or the emulsifier package may comprise further additives, such as carrier oils, cold flow improvers, lubricity improvers, corrosion inhibitors, dehazers, antifoams, cetane number improvers, combustion improvers, antioxidants or stabilizers, antistats, metallocenes, metal deactivators, and/or dyes. The fuel or the emulsifier package may comprise up to 50, 30, 10, 5, or 1 wt % of further additives. In another form the emulsifier package may be free of further additives.

The fuel emulsion comprises the emulsifier package in an amount of up to 5, 3, 2, 1, 0.8, 0.6, 0.4, or 0.3 wt % based on the diesel.

The fuel emulsion comprises the emulsifier package in an amount of 0.001 to 1.0 wt %, 0.01 to 0.5 wt %, 0.01 to 0.4 wt %, or 0.05 to 0.3 wt % based on the diesel.

The fuel emulsion comprises the emulsifier package in an amount of up to 2, 1, 0.5, 0.2, 0.1, 0.08 wt % based on the fuel emulsion.

The fuel emulsion comprises the emulsifier package in an amount of 0.001 to 0.5, 0.005 to 0.4, 0.005 to 0.15, or 0.02 to 0.08 wt % based on the fuel emulsion.

The powering of a diesel engine with a fuel emulsion is known. Suitable diesel engines are for example a large turbocharged two-stroke diesel engine (e.g. as described in WO 2010/145652 or WO 2010/105620) or a two-stroke diesel engine (e.g. as described in DE 19747247 or DE 19747240). The diesel engine may be used for stationary land engines (generators), railroad locomotives, cars, trucks, river ships, or ocean ships. The large two-stroke diesel engines may be used as prime mover in power plants or in ocean ships.

The emulsifying of the fuel and the water may be achieved by application of mechanical shear energy, e.g. in a stirred vessel, milling aggregates (like ball mills or stirred ball mills), shaking, rotor stator mixing, the turbulent flow through a pipe conveyed by pumps or by gravity, static mixers and counter current flow mixers. The emulsifying of the fuel and the water may also be achieved by a circulating the fuel and the water through a loop, e.g. by pumping them from the bottom of a tank to the top of the tank, where they are dumped on the surface of the tank content. Prior to the circulating of the fuel and the water a pre-stirring is possible, but not required.

The emulsifier package may contain different components. For emulsifying the fuel and the water some components may be added to the fuel and some components may be added to the water prior to emulsifying. Thus, the different components of the emulsifier package may be combined during the preparing of the fuel emulsion. Preferably, all components of the emulsifier package are premixed prior to emulsifying. Preferably, all components of the emulsifier package are added at the same time to the fuel or the water prior to emulsifying. The present invention may also relate to a fuel for powering a diesel engine with a fuel emulsion where the water comprises the emulsifier package.

The emulsifying can be made at temperatures of 0 to 100° C., or 10 to 90° C., or 20 to 50° C.

The emulsifying can be made at pressures of 0.5 to 20 bar, or 1 to 10 bar.

The time between the preparation of the fuel emulsion and its combustion in the diesel engine may be below 24 h, 6 h, 1 h, 45 min, 30 min, 15 min, 10 min, 5 min or 1 min.

Various devices for emulsifying the fuel and the water in diesel engines are known, for example from WO 2016/064722, WO 90/12959, U.S. Pat. No. 4,388,893, or WO 00/53916.

EXAMPLES

The emulsifier packages were prepared by mixing the emulsifiers and distilled water as indicated in Table 1 and an aqueous solution of emulsifiers was obtained.

The samples for testing the emulsion stability were prepared by mixing the additive package with diesel fuel. The amount of emulsifier used was 0.05% based on total volume of emulsion, including fuel and water, for all experiments in Table 1.

The used diesel fuel was a marine diesel oil of the type DMA according to DIN ISO 8217 a clear liquid diesel, free of additive packages and had a density of about 0.83 to 0.85.

The emulsion was prepared with a Silverson L5 high shear lab emulsifier based on rotor-stator principle within 10 sec at 7500 rpm at room temperature.

Then the emulsified samples were put in a graduated cylinder which was allowed to stand for up to 30 min. The amount of separated water phase was determined. For example, if 8 ml separated water phase was detected in the 80 ml total volume sample, it corresponded to an emulsion stability of 90%. If no separated water phase was detected this corresponded to 100% emulsion stability. The values are given in Table 1.

The following surfactants were used:

Branched surfactants of formula (I):

• • Nonionic A: C₁₀ oxoalcohol ethoxylated, pure, hydroxy number about 150 mg KOH/g.
  • Nonionic B: Isotridecanol ethoxylate, 70% active content in water, pour point about 0° C. according to ISO 3016.
  • Nonionic C: Isotridecanol ethoxylate, 70% active content in water, HLB about 18.Propoxylated Surfactants of Formula (II):
  • Nonionic D: C_16/18 Fatty alcohol alkoxylated, pour point about 15° C. (ASTM D 7346)

TABLE 1
Additive Packages (all amounts in wt %)
and Emulsion stability (lower part)
	Examples	1	2	3	4	5
	Water	87.5				87.5
	Nonionic A				100
	Nonionic B			100
	Nonionic C	12.5	100			10
	Nonionic D					2.5
	Ratio Fuel:Water	1:1.4	1:1.4	1:1.4	1:1.4	1:1.4
	1 min.	99%	99%	99%	99%	99%
	2 min.	97%	99%	99%	99%	99%
	5 min.	82%	99%	99%	99%	96%
	10 min.	80%	99%	99%	99%	91%
	20 min.	70%	98%	99%	99%	83%
	30 min.	64%	97%	98%	99%	73%

Claims

1. A method for powering a diesel engine with a fuel emulsion, the method comprising: preparing the fuel emulsion by emulsifying a fuel and water in the presence of an emulsifier package which comprises a branched surfactant of the formula (I) Ra—O-(AOa)m—Ra′  (I),in whichRa is a branched C6-32 alkyl,AOa is an ethylene oxide radical, propylene oxide radical, butylene oxide radical, pentylene oxide radical, styrene oxide radical, or mixture thereof,m is a number from 1 to 100, andRa′ is hydrogen or C1-4 alkyl; andwherein the emulsifier package additionally comprises a propoxylated surfactant of the formula (II) Rb—O—(AOb)n—Rb′  (II),in whichRb is a linear or branched C6-32 alkyl,AOb is a mixture of ethylene oxide radical and propylene oxide radical,n is a number from 1 to 100, andRb′ is hydrogen or C1-4 alkyl.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein Ra is a branched C8-14 alkyl.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein Ra is a branched tridecyl.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein AOa is an ethylene oxide radical.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein Rb is a linear C10-22 alkyl.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein Rb is a linear or branched C16-18 alkyl.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein Ra′ and Rb′ are hydrogen.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the emulsifier package comprises the branched surfactant and the propoxylated surfactant in a weight ratio of 10:1 to 1:10.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein the emulsifier package comprises 1 to 99 wt %, 5 to 90 wt %, 10 to 80 wt %, or 20 to 70 wt % of the branched surfactant.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the emulsifier package comprises 1 to 99 wt %, 5 to 90 wt %, 10 to 80 wt %, or 20 to 70 wt % of the propoxylated surfactant.

11. The method according to claim 1, wherein the emulsifier package contains up to 10 wt % of an ionic surfactant.

12. The method according to claim 1, wherein the emulsifier package comprises at least 10, 30, or 50 wt % of water, an organic solvent, or a mixture of water and the organic solvent.

13. The method according to claim 1, wherein the fuel emulsion comprises the emulsifier package in an amount of 0.05 to 0.4 wt %, based on the diesel.

14. The method according to claim 1, wherein the fuel emulsion comprises 40 to 80 wt % water.

15. The method according to claim 1, wherein the fuel is marine fuel.

16. A fuel emulsion for powering a diesel engine, as defined in claim 1.

17. The method according to claim 8, wherein the emulsifier package comprises the branched surfactant and the propoxylated surfactant in a weight ratio of 4:1 to 1:4.

18. The method according to claim 11, wherein the emulsifier package contains up to 1 wt % of the ionic surfactant.

19. The method according to claim 1, wherein the m and the n are each 3 to 60.

20. The method according to claim 1, wherein the molar ratio of the ethylene oxide radical:the propylene oxide radical in the AOb is 50:1 to 1:2.