ACID BASE PHENOMENA IN DISTILLATE FUEL STABILITY

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Carboxylic and organic sulfonic acids, added to distillate fuel blends containing catalytically cracked stock, Increase deposit formation, sometimes very dramatically. The carboxylic acids data fitted into a unified treatment in relationship to hydrogen ion concentration calculated from pKa values for aqueous solutions. These acids enhance deposit formation by catalytic action and are not Incorporated into the deposit. Organic sulfonic acids may fit into the unified acid catalysis pattern but await resolution of ionization phenomena in non-aqueous solution. A tertiary aliphatic amine stabilizer was effective for reducing deposit amounts from fuel blends containing acids. This amine acts on a stoichiometric basis to counteract strong acids in the fuels. For weak acids, the amine stabilizer exhibited an effect slightly more than that for a 1:1 basis with the amount of acid in the fuel. Other amines exerted favorable behavior only if they were strong organic bases.