Gasoline additive and method of making same

Abstract

A gasoline additive composed of a plurality of isomers of at least one of dibutyloxide, dipentyloxide, and butylpetyloxide, methods of making same comprising reacting at least one monoolefin with at least one monoalcohol in the presence of an acid catalyst, and methods of using same.

I claim:  
     
         1 . An octane enhancing gasoline additive for combustion in a spark-induced, internal combustion engine, said additive consisting essentially of a plurality of isomers of at least one of dibutyloxide, dipentyloxide, and butylpentyloxide.  
     
     
         2 . The additive of  claim 1  wherein said additive consists essentially of at least one of a) at least one isomer of dibutyloxide, b) at least one isomer of dipentyloxide, and c) at least one isomer of butylpentyloxide.  
     
     
         3 . The additive of  claim 1  wherein said additive consists essentially of a mixture of isomers of dibutyloxide, dipentyloxide, and butylpentyloxide.  
     
     
         4 . The additive of  claim 3  wherein said additive consists essentially of at least one isomer of each of two or more of dibutyloxide, dipentyloxide, and butylpentyloxide.  
     
     
         5 . In a method for operating a spark-induced, internal combustion engine, the improvement comprising introducing into said engine an effective octane enhancing amount of at least one additive of  claim 1  or  3 .  
     
     
         6 . A method for making a gasoline having an enhanced octane for use in a spark-induced, internal combustion engine comprising mixing at least two hydrocarbon streams that boil in the range of from about 77° F. to about 437° F., and blending with said hydrocarbon streams at least one additive of  claim 1  or  3 .  
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6  wherein said additive is blended with said hydrocarbon streams in an effective octane enhancing amount.  
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7  wherein said effective octane enhancing amount is an amount sufficient to impart to said hydrocarbon stream mixture a measurable increase in oxygen content.  
     
     
         9 . A method for making an octane enhancing gasoline additive suitable for use in a spark-induced, internal combustion engine comprising providing a hydrocarbon suitable for combustion in said engine which contains at least in part at least one monoolefin from the group having 4 and 5 carbon atoms per molecule and, hydrolyzing part of at least one of said monoolefin in the presence of an acid catalyst to the corresponding monoalcohol, leaving a remainder of unreacted monoolefins, reacting a portion of said monoalcohol with the remainder of said monoolefin in the presence of an acid catalyst to form a product containing at least one of dibutyloxide, dipentyloxide, and bulylpentyloxide, thereby rendering said hydrocarbon suitable for use as said gasoline additive.  
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9  wherein said monoolefin is at least one selected from the group consisting of 1-butene, 2-butene, iso-butene, 1-pentene, 2-pentene, iso-pentene and said corresponding monoalchol is at least one selected from the group consisting of normal butyl alcohol, sec butyl alcohol, isobutyl alcohol, normal pentyl alcohol, sec pentyl alcohol, and isopentyl alcohol.  
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 9  wherein unreacted olefin is separated from said product and returned to said hydrolyzing step to form additional monoalcohol.  
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 9  wherein the same acid catalyst is employed for all said reaction steps.  
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 10  wherein said reaction steps are each carried out at a temperature of from about 120 to about 250° F., a pressure of from about 25 to about 750 psig, a weight hour space velocity of from about 0.25 to about 10 h −1 , a mole ratio of monoolefin to water of from about 0.4/1 to about 10/1, a mole ratio of monoalcohol to monoolefin of from about 0.25/1 to about 10/1, and a catalyst selected from the group consisting of acidic resins and acidic inorganic solids.  
     
     
         14 . A method for making an octane enhancing gasoline additive suitable for use in a spark-induced, internal combustion engine comprising providing a hydrocarbon suitable for combustion in said engine which contains at least in part at least one monoalcohol selected from the group having 4 and 5 carbon atoms per molecule, and at least one iso-monoolefin selected from the group having 4 and 5 carbon atoms per molecule, reacting said at least one monoalcohol with said at least one iso-monoolefin in the presence of an acid catalyst to form at least one of dibutyloxide, dipentyloxide, and butylpentyloxide, whereby a mixture of isomers of same is formed in said hydrocarbon.  
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14  wherein said monoalcohol is at least one selected from the group consisting of normal butyl alcohol, sec butyl alcohol, iso-butyl alcohol, normal pentyl alcohol, sec pentyl alcohol, and iso-pentyl alcohol, and said at least one iso-monoolefin is at least one selected from the group consisting of iso-butylene and iso-pentylene.  
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 14  wherein said reaction is carried out at a temperature of from about 120 to about 200° F., a pressure of from about 25 to about 750 psig, a weight hour space velocity of from about 0.25 to about 10 h −1 , a mole ratio of monoalcohol to iso-monoolefin of from about 0.25/1 to about 10/1, and a catalyst selected from the group consisting essentially of acidic resins and acidic in organic solids.  
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 14  wherein said at least one monoalcohol is formed by first hydrolyzing at least part of said at least one monoolefin.  
     
     
         18 . A method for making an octane enhancing gasoline additive comprising providing a mixture of at least one normal monoolefin, at least one iso-monoolefin, and at least one monoalcohol, and reacting same in the presence of an acidic catalyst to form at least one isomer of dibutyloxide, dipentayloxide, and butylpentyloxide.  
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18  wherein said at least one monoalcohol is formed by first hydrolyzing at least part of said at least one monoolefin.  
     
     
         20 . A method for making an octane enhancing gasoline additive comprising providing a mixture of at least one normal monoolefin selected from the group having 4 and 5 carbon atoms per molecule, and at least one normal monoalcohol selected from the group having 4 and 5 carbon atoms per molecule, and reacting said monoolefin and monoalcohol in the presence of an acid catalyst to form at least one isomer from a plurality of dibutyloxide, dipentyloxide, and butylpentyloxide.  
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 20  wherein said at least one monoalcohol is formed by first hydrolyzing at least part of said at least one monoolefin.  
     
     
         22 . An automotive gasoline suitable for use in a spark-induced, internal combustion engine containing an effective octane enhancing amount of at least one additive of  claim 1  or  3 .  
     
     
         23 . In a method for enhancing the performance of a spark-induced, internal combustion engine, the improvement comprising introducing into said engine an effective octane enhancing amount of at least one additive of  claim 1  or  3 .