Cylinder Resident Hydrolysis of Olefins to Petroleum Gases

Abstract

An additive has been prepared for blending with gasoline that facilitates a cylinder resident reaction, in high compression internal combustion engines (ICEs), to produce an increase in engine's mechanical energy output. A method of increasing mechanical efficiency of an internal combustion engine (ICE) comprising blending an amount of additive with gasoline to perform hydrolysis of olefin hydrocarbons, represented by octene (C8) into petroleum gas hydrocarbons, represented by butane (C4), wherein the additive facilitates cylinder-resident reaction, aided by a low concentration of organometallic catalyst, to utilize the elements of the water combustion product, to hydrolyze olefin hydrocarbons such as octene, resident in the gasoline, into petroleum gas hydrocarbons such as butane, and to increase the ICE's efficiency of utilization of the energy of the fuel.

Claims

1. A method of increasing mechanical efficiency of an internal combustion engine (ICE) comprising blending an amount of additive with gasoline to perform hydrolysis of olefin hydrocarbons, represented by octene (C8) into petroleum gas hydrocarbons, represented by butane (C4), wherein the additive consists of a plurality of units of chemicals and is evenly dispersed through-out the gasoline, and wherein the units of chemicals consists of a base explosive that detonates, under the requisite pressure and temperature conditions, a chain of reactions that are aided by a low concentration of lead, an organopalladium or an organoplatinum catalyst, that utilize an elemental component of water present as a combustion product to perform hydrolysis of olefin hydrocarbons, represented by octene (C8) into petroleum gas hydrocarbons, represented by butane (C4), to increase the engine's mechanical efficiency through the mechanisms of: increasing the pressure in the compression stroke, above the engine's 10:1 or higher; contributing components with an octane number (ON) of 102 to the gasoline that enters the cylinder; advancing the spark ignition; reducing the air to fuel ratio; and increasing the energy density of the gasoline by the hydrolysis reaction that increases the petroleum gas component's concentration at the expense of decreasing the olefin component's concentration.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the additive comprises 2-ethylhexyl nitrates as a base explosive that detonates, a corrosion inhibitor and a detergent to protect the ICE, as well as a lead containing fuel or an unleaded fuel.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the additive comprises an unleaded fuel and an organoplatinum or an organopalladium catalyst.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the additive comprises a lead containing fuel.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the gasoline is straight run gasoline with octane number in the mid-50s.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the process allows the engine's computer to advance the spark ignition recycles to produce an increase in the engine's new work output.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the requisite increase in the ON to support advance spark ignition occurs in the cylinder's hydrolysis reaction that morphs olefin hydrocarbons, represented by octene (C8) present in gasoline into petroleum gas hydrocarbons, represented by butane (C4), rather than increasing the octane number of the gasoline that is fed to the cylinder by blending in naphtha or other aromatic hydrocarbon or octane improving additives.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the additive raises the lead concentration in the fuel, without exceeding fuel standards level of 50 ppm, and the additive catalyzes the cylinder resident hydrolysis reaction that morphs olefin hydrocarbons, represented by octene (C8) present in gasoline into petroleum gas hydrocarbons, represented by butane (C4), rather than increasing the octane number of the gasoline that is fed to the cylinder by blending in naphtha or other aromatic hydrocarbon or octane improving additives.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein the additive facilitates a cylinder resident reaction to utilize the elemental oxygen in the water combustion product from a high compression ICE to reduce the air to fuel ratio allowing the engine to run leaner to produce an increase in the engine's mechanical efficiency.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the additive raises the level of vaporization in the ICE's cylinder to improve cold start, under all seasonal conditions, while avoiding vapor lock in the fuel lines that would occur if butane was blended with the gasoline to achieve an equivalent level of vaporization.

11. The method according to claim 1, wherein the composition of the gasoline is straight run gasoline or regular gasoline that contains a greater concentration of olefins than premium grade or mid-range gasoline so that the ON can be increased by hydrolysis of olefins, represented by octene, to petroleum gases, represented by butane, under the conditions of temperature and pressure in the cylinder rather than adding naphtha to produce reformulated gasolines consisting of premium and intermediate grade gasolines.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0040] The patent or application file contains at least one drawing executed in black and white. Copies of this patent or patent application publication with black and white drawing(s) will be provided by the office upon request and payment of the necessary fee.

[0041] To further clarify the above and other advantages and features of the present invention, a more particular description of the invention will be rendered by references to specific embodiments thereof, which are illustrated in the appended drawings. It is appreciated that these drawings depict only typical embodiments of the invention and are therefore not to be limiting of its scope.

[0042] The invention will be described and explained with additional specificity and detail through use of accompanying drawings in which:

[0043] FIG. 1 shows the process of hydrolysis of olefin hydrocarbons and combustion of petroleum gas hydrocarbons in the ICEs;

[0044] FIG. 2 shows a complete formulation for a preferred embodiment of the leaded and unleaded additive;

[0045] FIG. 3 contains the conversion of additive in fluid ounces into relative dilution and lead concentration;

[0046] FIG. 4 presents the factors, that when taken together, combine to affect the efficiency of an ICE;

[0047] FIG. 5 is a comparison of the chemical additions that increase the ON and the RVP in conventional gasoline blending to the present invention's cylinder resident chemical hydrolysis that accomplish the requisite increase in ON and the RVP as well as an increase in the gasoline's heat of combustion to produce a premium fuel;

[0048] FIG. 6 shows the result and calculations for a racing fuel treated with 1.5 fluid ounces, with the Additive formulation in FIG. 2, in twenty (20) gallons of fuel;

[0049] FIG. 7 shows the relationship between the ICE's efficiency and the ignition timing advance as an integrating parameter of ON, and compression ratio; and

[0050] FIG. 8 shows how three examples of how the additive can be used to save consumers money.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0051] All illustrations of the drawings are for the purpose of describing selected versions of the present invention and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention.

[0052] When the combustion energy, in kJ per unit of molecular weight, of Olefins, represented by octene (C8), is compared to alkanes, represented by butane (C4), undergoes combustion that releases 789 kJ/unit of molecular weight that is dwarfed by the 400 kJ/unit of molecular weight of Octane (? Octene). Butane with a low boiling point, 20.66 degrees F. (6.3 degrees C.) is more appropriately to be blended with propane (C3) and used as liquified petroleum gas (LPG) fuel and not used to fuel for ICEs. However, butane gas is soluble in liquid gasoline and is a component found in all grades of the reformatted gasolines available in the US's 150,000 stations where gasoline is sold. The use of butane has the benefits of being: inexpensive; available in excess quantities at refineries; 1.98 times the energy density of octane; 102 ON vs. 100 ON for octane; a RVP of 52 making it the component of choice for use to add the requisite volatility for cold start of ICEs. However, butane's concentration in reformulated gasoline is limited to 2% by volume in summer blends and 10% in winter blends so as not to exceed a maximum standard for RVP of 9 psi and avoid the unwanted occurrence of vapor lock in the gasoline feed system to the ICE.

[0053] In the present invention, the possibility of excess butane producing vapor lock is eliminated by producing butane in a cylinder resident reaction only after the gasoline has passed through the feed system. The cylinder resident reaction that produces butane is represented by the hydrolysis of the olefin, represented by the octene (C8), in FIG. 1. The concentration of olefins, alkenes, are present in crude oil and its distillation fraction called straight run gasoline. Olefins are called un-saturated for this class of hydrocarbons contains at least one double bond in its carbon chain. A gasoline's concentration of alkenes, in percent by volume, is determined by the bromine number (ASTM D 1159) divided by the number 2.4. The alkene concentration is 81% in straight run gasoline that is produced by distillation of crude oil in boiling point range of 104 degrees F. (40 degrees C.) to 401 degrees F. (205 degrees C.). Upon the occurrence of the increase in the ICE's efficiency is associated with the combustion of the lower molecular weight, butane that contains almost double the average energy density (AED) of Octene. The 2-ethylhexyl nitrate (EHN) present in the leaded and unleaded additive in the present invention detonates under the conditions that are resident in the cylinder, releasing 10 times the per unit of weight of this chemical as compared to combustion of the chemical. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 2, the small quantity of EHN present, in a preferred embodiment of the formulation of the additive, is less than one fifth of the volume, 16.64%, is amplified many times by detonation over the AED that would be released if the EHN were combusted. According to the law of conservation of energy, the total energy of an isolated system cannot change. Therefore, the apparent energy increase in the detonation of EHN occurs by a reduction in the heat energy produced in the combustion of hydrocarbon in the cylinder producing a reduction in the quantity of heat released as exhaust from the ICE. This reduction in the exhaust's heat results in a lowering of the exhaust temperature and an associated increase in the Carnot efficiency. The Carnot efficiency is a function of the difference in the temperature of combustion and the temperature of the discharge gases measure in units of absolute temperature.

[0054] The formulation shown in FIG. 2 is the triggering component Sunoco Max NOS (SMN), a lead containing fuel and VP Tech's MS 109 (VMS), an unleaded fuel. Both fuels contain the requisite corrosion inhibitor (e.g., DCI-11 plus) and detergent (e.g., DMA-641) additives to protect the ICE. The additional component in the unleaded additive containing VMS fuel in FIG. 2 is organoplatinum. The detonation of the released EHN is triggered by the SMN and VMS fuels just as a hydrogen bomb is triggered by a low nuclear yield atomic bomb. As the piston continues to increase the pressure in the cylinder the SMN or VMS present combines with the chemical remnants of combustion to act like a primary explosive cap and cause detonation of the EHN to occur.

[0055] The SMN contains lead and VMS fuel contains organopalladium or organoplatinum that each acts as a catalyst to reduce the energy threshold required for the hydrolysis of the olefins to occur and for the detonation of the EHN to occur. The allowable limit of lead in gasoline is 50 mg. In Test One and Test Two, the dosage of additive was 1.5 fluid ounces in 20 gallons of gasoline. In Test Three, the dosage of Additive used was 0.64 fluid ounces in 20 gallons of gasoline. In Test Four, VMS fuel blended organoplatinum, at a dose of 0.04 mg/gallon as platinum, the dosage of additive used was 0.64 fluid ounces in 20 gallons of gasoline.

[0056] FIG. 3 contains the conversion of additive in fluid ounces into relative dilution and the associated lead concentration in the gasoline. The SMN contains 0.375 percent by volume of lead per gallon as tetraethyl lead. The actual lead content in the gasoline after blending with the additive is far below the allowable limit of 50 ppm because the lead content of SMN is diluted first by the other components in the additive 10:1 and then by the gallons of blended gasoline. Thus, the concentration of additive blended with gasoline in Test One and Test Two is 1:1,707 and in the concentration of additive blended with gasoline in Test Three is 1:4,000. The concentration of lead, as shown in FIG. 3 in Test One and Test Two for an additive dose of 0.64 fluid ounces per 20 gallons of gasoline, is 0.08 mg/gallon as lead, and in Test Three for an additive dose of 1.5 fluid ounces per gallons of gasoline is 0.19 mg/gallon as lead. The additive's lead dose in Tests One and Two is only 0.16% of the allowable maximum lead concentration in gasoline. The additive's lead dose in Test Three and is only 0.38% of the allowable maximum lead concentration. However, these trace quantities of lead are sufficient to impart the requisite catalytic action to the hydrolysis reaction, shown in FIG. 1, to produce two (2) moles of butane with a combined heat of combustion of 91,504 kJ for each mole of octene with a heat of combustion of 44,427 kJ/mole. This reaction results in double the heat of combustion resulting in an increase in the net energy available for the ICE compared to the heat of combustion of the olefin before hydrolysis occurs.

The Improved Efficiency Triangle

[0057] FIG. 4 presents the factors, that when taken together, combine to increase the efficiency of an ICE. The preparation of this figure was inspired by the fire triangle that shows the three elements, fuel, heat and oxygen, that each must be present in sufficient quantity for a fire to occur. In the present invention, the three elements, olefins, octane number, and compression ratio must be present in sufficient quantities for the hydrolysis reaction to occur that produces an increase in butane concentration as the olefin concentration is reduced in the cylinder resident reaction.

[0058] The double bonds between carbons in the olefins, present in gasoline, are heat and pressure sensitive. Reformulation of gasoline, performed in refineries, often involves high temperatures and pressures causing double bonds present in olefins (alkenes), to transform into single bonds present in alkanes. The extent of the reduction in olefins during gasoline reformation, is measured by the decrease in bromine number making this portion of the olefins unavailable for the hydrolysis reaction to occur. All gasolines, have a starting point, consisting of hydrocarbons derived from distillation of crude oil called straight run gasoline. The hydrocarbons in straight run gasoline distillation fraction has a boiling point range of 104 degrees F. (40 degrees C.) to 401 degrees F. (205 degrees C.). The commercially available gasoline that is 100% straight run contains a yellow dye signifying that it has not been taxed and is for off-road uses such as on farms. This gasoline contains eighty One percent (81%) by weight Olefins, that is the highest concentration in any commercially available gasoline. Therefore, yellow gasoline has the potential for producing the highest quantity of butane by the hydrolysis of the olefins. The second highest concentration of olefins in commercially available gasoline is in regular grade gasoline. The concentration of olefins in gasoline can be determined by dividing the bromine number by the number 2.4. the bromine number decreases as the grade of gasoline, and the price at the pump increase from regular, to mid-grade and the premium.

[0059] The cylinder pressure in the ICE is the sum of the engine's compression ratio, the contributions to RVP from the quantity of the butane in the gasoline and the quantity of butane produced by the cylinder resident hydrolysis reaction. The threshold pressure for the reaction to occur is ten (10) atmospheres. This pressure is achieved in an ICE with a compression ratio of 10. Engine's with higher compression ratios add additional pressure. The RVP of butane is 52 psi. Therefore, if the fuel had a 100% butane content, which it does not and cannot have, this would add 3.5 atmospheres: equal to a compression ratio of 13.5. For each 10% of the olefins hydrolyzed to butane there is an increase in the butane of almost 20% that, 2 moles of butane from each mole of olefins, results in an increase in the pressure of 0.7 atmospheres {(52/14.7)(20/100)} producing and apparent compression ratio increase of 0.7 to 10.7.

[0060] The starting octane number (ON) for the hydrolysis reaction to occur is the ON of 55 found for straight run gasoline: that is commercially available as yellow gasoline. Butane, with an ON of 102, increases the ON in proportion to the percent completion of the cylinder resident reaction that produces butane by the hydrolysis of olefins. If the hydrolysis reaction is sufficiently complete to produces 60% butane, then the ON of the gasoline in the cylinder is 94 (0.455+0.6102). The gasoline produced at this percent completion of the straight run gasoline is superior to a premium grade gasoline's ON of 91 and has an ON 3 units higher than the average premium grade gasoline that is commercially available in the US.

Comparison of Conventional Reformulated Gasoline and Present Invention Gasoline

[0061] FIG. 5 is a comparison of the chemical additions that increase the ON and the RVP in conventional gasoline blending to the present invention's cylinder resident chemical hydrolysis that accomplish the requisite increase in ON and the RVP as well as an increase in the gasoline's heat of combustion to produce a premium fuel from lower grades commercially available gasolines that contain olefins. The present invention's ability to eliminate the negative of vapor locking by harnessing the pressure and temperature conditions to in situ produce butane allows the completion of the gasoline formulation with concentrations of butane not limited to 2% in summer gasoline and 10% in winter gasoline. The cylinder resident reaction produced butane, with ON of 102, eliminates or reduces the need to add naphthene, used in the production of conventional gasoline, at the refinery to increase the ON of the fuel in the production of reformulated gasoline. The cylinder resident reaction produced butane, with RVP of 52 psi, eliminates the need to add butane to the gasoline at the refinery, to aid the cold start of the engine, by increasing the RVP of the fuel in the reformatting process used for production of conventional gasoline.

Test OneRacing Fuel

[0062] FIG. 6 shows the result and calculations for a racing fuel treated with 1.5 fluid ounces of the leaded additive formulation in FIG. 2, in twenty (20) gallons of fuel. In this test, regular grade gasoline with ON of 88 was blended with the additive at a volume ratio of 1,707 parts of gasoline to 1 parts of additive (20 gallons to 1.5 fluid ounces). The blending of regular gasoline and the additive produced a racing fuel with an ON of 121. This is a ON that is 5 units higher than the existing racing fuel that cost $6.11 a gallon: when purchased at the pump at a racing track in the St. Louis area of Missouri. Based on calculations, the additive's theoretical values ON is 55,088 with a value of $6,602 a gallon. In practice, the blending of the additive with regular gasoline, at a cost of $2.15 a gallon, produces a racing fuel with an ON that is 5 units higher than existing racing fuel. Therefore, the additive increases the value of the regular gasoline by $3.96 a gallon or the 0.075 fluid ounces of additive, used to treat a single gallon of regular gasoline, is calculated to be worth $6,785: almost the same value as first calculated above. How can 0.075 fluid ounce of additive in a gallon of gasoline have such a profound effect on increasing the ON of the fuel unless it was radioactive material? But the additive is not radioactive. Therefore, the only possible explanation is that the additive initiates a reaction in the bulk of the fuel to produce these profound results and that change results from the hydrolysis of hydrocarbon with longer chain length of carbons to hydrocarbons with shorter chain length of carbons that have a greater energy density per mole.

Test TwoAdvancing of Spark Ignition

[0063] FIG. 7 shows the relationship between the ICE's efficiency and the ignition timing advance as an integrating parameter of ON, and compression ratio. Results from testing existing racing fuel, with and ON of 116, shows optimum performance at 4 degrees ignition timing and for testing racing fuel treated with 1.5 fluid ounces of leaded additive in twenty (20) gallons of fuel, with an ON of 121, shows optimum performance at 9 degrees ignition timing: a more than doubling the advance in ignition timing. Based on FIG. 7, this advance in ignition timing corresponds to an increase in energy efficiency of six percent (6%).

[0064] The increase in the engine's efficiency with increased ignition advance is due to increased pressure in the compression stroke that results in the production of more net-work by the ICE. If ignition is too advanced, too much of the gas will burn while the piston is rising, resulting in a decrease in the ICE's ability to expend the work that must be done to compress the gas. These competing effects create a point at which optimum performance is achieved. The results in the occurrence of a point of maximization of engine's efficiency at an ignition advance that is specific to the racing fuel treated with 1.5 fluid ounces of additive in twenty (20) gallons of fuel.

Test ThreeLow Compression Engine

[0065] Fueling, a low compression engine, with regular gasoline, treated 0.64 fluid ounce of leaded additive, to 20 gallons of resulted in no discernable increase in miles per gallon. However, it was reported that there was an improvement in the engine's cold start. This test provides antidotal evidence that, even under low compression cylinder condition, a cylinder resident hydrolysis reaction occurs. This reaction resulted in the production of butane (C4) hydrocarbon that raises the Reed Vapor Pressure (RVP) so that the engine's cold start performance was improved. Because butane (C4) hydrocarbons have an enormously large RVP of 55, even a small increase in concentration of butane (C4) hydrocarbons in the cylinder's fuel can have a large effect on improving the engine's cold start performance.

Test FourComparison of Leaded and Un-Leaded Additive

[0066] Fueling, a high compression engine, with regular gasoline, treated 0.64 fluid ounce of leaded additive in one test and unleaded additive in another test resulted in increased mileage and power and increase in miles per gallon. Both the leaded and the unleaded formulation, shown in FIG. 2 performed practically the same.

[0067] FIG. 8 shows three examples of how the additive can save consumers money. In this figure the additive, with the formulations shown in FIG. 2, is branded as the commercial name (Detonator) and for market reasons the same formulation is sub-branded as Detonator, Detonator Racing and Detonator Alcohol. The additive, in the present invention, can be added to regular grade gasoline to produce premium grade gasoline to save a consumer, that had used premium grade gasoline, $6.90 on the purchase of 20 gallon of fuel. The additive, in the present invention, can be added to regular grade gasoline to produce racing grade gasoline to save a consumer, that had used premium racing grade gasoline, $85.85 on the purchase of 20 gallons of fuel. The additive, in the present invention, can be added to E85 gasoline to raise energy of 20 gallons of E85 to be equivalent to 30 gallons of E85 to save the consumer $11.15 on the purchase of fuel.

Observation

[0068] The production of gasoline in accordance with the present invention can be thought of as a combination of: 1) rolling back time to when the function of the refining was only distillation of crude to produce straight run gasoline rich in the olefin component; and 2) harnessing today's high compression engine's cylinder to upgrade low octane straight run gasoline to high octane premium grade by converting a portion of the olefins present to petroleum gas.

[0069] Although the invention has been explained in relation to its preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that many other possible modifications and variations can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.