Wax-Crystal Modification for Fuel Oils by Self-Aggregating Partially Crystallizable Hydrocarbon Block Copolymers

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• 作者：Walter Leube ; Michael Monkenbusch ; Dieter Schneiders ; Dieter Richter ; Douglas Adamson ; Lewis Fetters ; Panagiotis Dounis ; and Ralph Lovegrove
• 刊名：Energy & Fuels
• 出版年：2000
• 出版时间：March 2000
• 年：2000
• 卷：14
• 期：2
• 页码：419 - 430
• 全文大小：779K
• 年卷期：v.14,no.2(March 2000)
• ISSN：1520-5029

文摘

The quality of life partially depends on the ability to maintain the transportation of goods andpeople in an efficient and reliable fashion, even under difficult climatic conditions. A well-knownproblem at low temperatures is the filter blockage of diesel fuel. Fuel oils contain alkanes thatprecipitate at low temperature as large crystals or spherulites of wax in such a way as to formgels. Thereupon the fuel loses its ability to flow and the transportation system falters or is stopped.The lowest temperature at which the fuel will still flow is known as the pour point. As thetemperature approaches that of the pour point, difficulties emerge in transporting the fuel throughlines and pump. Furthermore, wax crystals can plug screens and filters at temperatures abovethe pour point; the so-called cold filter plugging point. To combat this behavior various additiveshave been developed to depress the pour point or to decrease the size and alter the shape of thewax crystals; e.g., smaller sized crystals are less likely to clog either screens or filters. This paperreports on the use of a crystalline-amorphous diblock copolymer that performs, in its self-assembled state, as an efficient nucleator for the wax in middle distillate fuels.