Fuel for jet, gas turbine, rocket and diesel engines

• US 20050023188A1
• Filed: 07/29/2004
• Published: 02/03/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 08/01/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: The Procter & Gamble Company
• Original Assignee: The Procter & Gamble Company
• Inventors: Connor, Daniel Stedman
• Granted Patent: US 7,560,603 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 208/15
• CPC Class Codes: C06B 47/00 Compositions in which the components are separately stored until the moment of burning or explosion, e.g. "Sprengel"-type explosives; Suspensions of solid component in a normally non-explosive liquid phase, including a thickened aqueous phase
• CPC Class Codes: C10L 1/04 essentially based on blends of hydrocarbons
• CPC Class Codes: C10L 1/08 for compression ignition

Abstract

A fuel or fuel blendstocks for jet, gas turbine, rocket, and diesel engines, particularly jet and rocket engines utilizing components of conventional petroleum not currently utilized for jet, gas turbine, rocket, and diesel fuels, such as benzene, butanes, butanes, and methyl tert butyl ether (MTBE) alklyated with aromatic moieties to make monoaromatics used in jet and diesel fuels. Additionally, a fuel having such monoaromatics has multiple desired properties such as higher flash point, low pour point, increased density, better lubricity, aerobic degradability, reduction in toxicity, and additionally can deliver benefits in blendstocks.

Claims

1. A fuel composition for use in jets, gas turbines, rockets, or diesel engines comprising:

(a) from about 5% to about 99% by weight of the fuel composition of a highly branched alkylaromatic or alkylcyclohexane compound comprising an alkyl moiety having from 5 to 25 carbon atoms and an average of more than 1.0 branches per moiety, and an aromatic moiety selected from the group comprising benzene, toluene, xylene, a cyclohexane derived from an aromatic moiety, and mixtures thereof;

wherein said alkyl moiety of the alkylaromatic or alkylcyclohexane comprises a ratio of nonquaternary carbons to quaternary carbons from about 10;

1 to 3;

1;

(b) from at least about 0.01% of fuel additives; and

(c) from 0% to about 75% of conventional jet, gas turbine, rocket or diesel blendstocks.

2. The fuel composition according to claim 1 wherein the fuel composition is for use in jets, gas turbines, or rockets and the pour point of the fuel composition is about −

40°

C. to about −

80°

C.

3. The fuel composition according to claim 1 wherein the flash point of the fuel composition is about 38°

C. to about 145°

C.

4. The fuel composition according to claim 1 wherein the density of the fuel composition is 0.700 g/mL to about 0.900 g/mL.

5. The fuel composition according to claim 1 wherein the sum of carbons in the alkyl moiety is from C_5-14.

6. The fuel composition according to claim 1 wherein the fuel composition is for use in diesel engines and the pour point is about −

20°

C. to about −

35°

C.

7. The fuel composition according to claim 1 wherein the fuel composition is essentially free of polycyclic aromatic substitutents and essentially free of unreacted benzene.

8. The fuel composition according to claim 1 wherein the fuel composition is a jet fuel having a minimum smoke point of 20 mm.

9. The fuel composition according to claim 1 wherein the fuel composition is for use as a universal battlefield fuel.

10. The fuel composition according to claim 1 wherein said compound (a) has said alkylaromatic or alkylcyclohexane preferably comprises at least 1 quaternary carbon per molecule, more preferably at least 2 quaternary carbons per molecule.

11. The fuel composition according to claim 10, wherein from about 80 mol % to about 100 mol % of the alkylaromatic and/or alkylcyclohexane compound comprise a quaternary carbon formed by the alkyl moiety, the aromatic moiety or cyclohexane derived from the aromatic moiety, and a branch moiety selected from the group consisting of C₁-C₄ alkyl, and mixtures thereof.

12. A method of powering a diesel engine through the burning of a fuel comprising the steps of compressing air in the diesel engine, injecting the fuel of claim 1, igniting the air and fuel to form a burning mixture.

13. A method of powering a jet or gas turbine engine through the burning of a fuel comprising the steps of drawing air from the front of the jet engine or gas turbine into the jet engine or gas turbine, mixing the air with the fuel of claim 1, igniting the air and fuel mixture to form a burning mixture, and ejecting the burning mixture out of the back of the jet engine or gas turbine.

14. A method of powering a rocket through the burning of a fuel comprising the steps of mixing the fuel of claim 1 with an oxidant selected from oxygen or nitrous oxide, igniting the oxidant and fuel to form a burning mixture, and ejecting the burning mixture from the rocket.

15. A method of powering a vehicle having a power system consisting of a at least 70 MPa direct injection diesel engine, preferably of the common rail type, or a hybrid power system comprising the engine and an electric motor comprising a step of combusting the fuel composition of claim 1.

16. A method for powering a ramjet or scramjet comprising the steps of decomposing the fuel composition of claim 1, preferably via catalytically dehydrogenating, into hydrocarbon components and hydrogen;

cooling the adjacent engine and airframe parts through endothermic cooling;

burning the hydrocarbon components and the hydrogen;

wherein the burning hydrogen maintains flame under ramjet or scramjet conditions.