Alcohol Fuel Soluble Additive for Removing Deposits in Fueling Systems

Abstract

The present invention provides a fuel additive composition comprising (a) an alkoxylate detergent, (b) a fatty acid or derivative thereof, or mixtures thereof wherein the additive composition is soluble in the fuel where the fuel is a blend of hydrocarbonaceous and nonhydrocarbonaceous fuel with a nonhydrocarbonaceous fuel content of at least 50 percent by weight. Additionally, the present invention further provides for a fuel composition comprising such a additive composition and such a fuel. The present invention also provides for a method of operating an engine and a method of reducing deposits in a fuel system by using such an additive composition and fuel blend.

1 . A fuel composition comprising:
 A. a fuel which is a liquid at room temperature comprising a blend of hydrocarbonaceous and nonhydrocarbonaceous fuel having a nonhydrocarbonaceous fuel content of at least 50 percent by weight; and   B. an additive component comprising at least one of the following:
 (i) a alkoxylate detergent; and 
 (ii) a fatty acid or derivative thereof; 
   wherein the additive component is soluble in the fuel blend.   
     
     
         2 . A fuel composition of  claim 1  wherein the alkoxylate detergent comprises (a) a polyether; (b) a polyetheramine; or (c) a mixture thereof. 
     
     
         3 . A fuel composition of  claim 1  further comprising an antioxidant. 
     
     
         4 . The fuel composition of  claim 1 , wherein the hydrocarbonaceous fuel comprises gasoline and the nonhydrocarbonaceous fuel comprises methanol, ethanol, butanol, or mixtures thereof. 
     
     
         5 . A method of fueling an internal combustion engine comprising:
 I. supplying to the internal combustion engine a fuel composition comprising:
 A. a fuel which is a liquid at room temperature comprising a blend of hydrocarbonaceous and nonhydrocarbonaceous fuel having a nonhydrocarbonaceous fuel content of at least 50 percent by weight; and 
 B. an additive component comprising at least one of the following:
 (i) a alkoxylate detergent; and 
 (ii) a fatty acid or derivative thereof; 
 
 wherein the additive component is soluble in the fuel blend. 
   
     
     
         6 . A method for reducing the deposition of hydrocarbonaceous-fuel-soluble additives and derivatives thereof from a fuel blend of hydrocarbonaceous and nonhydrocarbonaceous in a fuel system, comprising:
 I. adding to said fuel blend, which is a liquid at room temperature, and which comprises a blend of hydrocarbonaceous and nonhydrocarbonaceous fuel with a nonhydrocarbonaceous fuel content of at least 50 percent by weight, an additive component comprising at least one of the following:   (i) a alkoxylate detergent; and   (ii) a fatty acid or derivative thereof;   wherein the additive component is soluble in the fuel blend;   II. supplying said fuel blend to a fuel system.   
     
     
         7 . An alcohol fuel additive concentrate comprising at least one of the following:
 a alkoxylate detergent; and   (ii) a fatty acid or derivative thereof;   
       wherein the concentrate is soluble in a fuel which is liquid at room temperature and comprises a blend of hydrocarbonaceous and nonhydrocarbonaceous fuel with a nonhydrocarbonaceous fuel content of at least 50 percent by weight. 
     
     
         8 . The additive concentrate of  claim 7  wherein the alkoxylate detergent comprises (a) a polyether; (b) a polyetheramine; or (c) a mixture thereof. 
     
     
         9 . The concentrate of  claim 7  further comprising an antioxidant. 
     
     
         10 . The additive concentrate of  claim 8  wherein the alkoxylate detergent is derived from ethylene oxide, propylene oxide, butylene oxide or a mixture thereof. 
     
     
         11 . The additive concentrate of  claim 8  wherein the alkoxylate detergent comprises a polyether represented by the formula:
   R 3 O[CH 2 CH(R 4 )O] q H 
 wherein R 3  is a hydrocarbyl group, R 4  is selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, hydrocarbyl groups of 1 to 16 carbon atoms, and mixtures thereof, and q is a number from 2 to about 50. 
 
     
     
         12 . The fuel additive concentrate of  claim 8  wherein the alkoxylate detergent comprises a polyetheramine represented by the formula:
   R 6 O(A 2 O) m R 7 NR 8 R 9    
 wherein R 6  is a hydrocarbyl group of 1 to 50 carbon atoms, or about 8 to about 30 carbon atoms; A 2  is an alkylene group having 2 to 18 carbon atoms and preferably 2 to 6 carbon atoms; m is a number from 1 to about 50; R 7  is an alkylene group having 2 to 18 carbon atoms or preferably 2 to 6 carbon atoms; and R 8  and R 9  are independently hydrogen, a hydrocarbyl group or —[R′N(R″)]nR″′ wherein R′ is an alkylene group having 2 to 6 carbon atoms, R″ and R″′ are independently hydrogen or a hydrocarbyl group, and n is a number from 1 to 7. 
 
     
     
         13 . The fuel additive concentrate of  claim 8  wherein the alkoxylate detergent comprises a polyetheramine represented by the formula:
   R 10 O[CH 2 CH(CH 2 CH 3 )O] Z CH 2 CH 2 CH 2 NH 2    
 wherein R 10  is an aliphatic group or alkyl-substituted phenyl group of about 8 to about 30 carbon atoms; and Z is a number from about 12 to about 30; 
 and wherein the polyetheramine has a molecular weight in the range from about 300 to about 5,000. 
 
     
     
         14 . The fuel additive concentrate of  claim 1  wherein component (B), comprises a tall oil fatty acid with an average of about 4 to 30 carbon atoms.