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Influence of methacrylic polymer additives with different composition and molecular weight on the low-temperature behaviour of diesel fuel

The challenge in improving the flow behavior of diesel fuel at low temperatures is mainly due to the crystallization of paraffins present in the diesel fuel. At lower temperatures, paraffins crystallize into needle-like crystals that separate from the diesel and combine to form a 3D network that clogs the pores of the fuel filter. This leads to a deterioration of the lowtemperature properties and reduces the temperature range in which the fuel can be used. [1] This problem is currently being addressed in several ways. Blending distillates with a higher nparaffin content with other components with a lower n-paraffin content can lower the concentration of n-paraffin in the fuel and improve low-temperature properties. However, the process is not economical because the proportion of the higher-quality lighter derivative increases compared to the lower-quality derivative with a higher n-paraffin content. The improvement can also be achieved by a catalytic dewaxing process or a crystallization dewaxing process [2, 3] but from an economic point of view, the addition of additives is the most profitable method to improve the properties at low temperatures. In our research, we synthesized methacrylate additives with different compositions and varied the molecular weight of the additives with a chain transfer agent. The influence of these two parameters on the low-temperature properties and crystallization of diesel fuel was studied. Depending on the proportion of short-chain and long-chain comonomers in the polymer additive, a different influence on the low-temperature properties of the fuel was observed. The synthesized additives had a positive effect on the pour point (PP) of diesel fuel, by lowering it by more than 30 °C, and influenced the crystal morphology of diesel fuel observed by optical microscope with polarization by changing the size, number, and morphology of crystals in diesel fuel.

Polymer additives ; Diesel fuel ; Pour point depressant ; Molecular weight

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