초록 ▼

The present invention provides a stable fuel composition that can be used as a drop-in replacement for number 2 fuel oil without requiring infrastructure changes. The fuel comprises a continuous phase of mostly biofuel, an aqueous disperse phase, and at least one emulsifier. The continuous phase con

The present invention provides a stable fuel composition that can be used as a drop-in replacement for number 2 fuel oil without requiring infrastructure changes. The fuel comprises a continuous phase of mostly biofuel, an aqueous disperse phase, and at least one emulsifier. The continuous phase contains about 50 wt % to about 95 wt % of at least one liquid vegetable or liquid animal oil/fat or mixtures thereof; about 1 wt % to about 20 wt % of a renewable or fossil fuel derived thinning solvent or mixtures thereof, with or without 1 wt % to about 25 wt % of a C1-C4 monohydric alcohols, and with or without about 1 wt % to about 30 wt % of petroleum middle distillate. The aqueous phase contains about 1 wt % to about 50 wt % of deionized/purified water, with or without 1 wt % to about 25 wt % of a C1-C4 monohydric alcohols.

대표청구항 ▼

1. A biofuel composition comprising an aqueous emulsion having: (a) a continuous phase comprising (i) about 50 wt % to about 95 wt % of at least one liquid vegetable oil or liquid animal fat or mixtures thereof,(ii) about 1 wt % to about 20 wt % of a renewable or fossil fuel derived thinning solvent

1. A biofuel composition comprising an aqueous emulsion having: (a) a continuous phase comprising (i) about 50 wt % to about 95 wt % of at least one liquid vegetable oil or liquid animal fat or mixtures thereof,(ii) about 1 wt % to about 20 wt % of a renewable or fossil fuel derived thinning solvent or mixtures thereof; and(iii) about 1 wt % to about 25 wt % of a of a hydroxyl-containing organic compound selected from the group consisting of C1-C4 monohydric alcohols;(b) an aqueous dispersed phase comprising about 1 wt % to about 50 wt % of deionized/purified water and wherein component (b) further comprises about 1 wt. % to about 25 wt. % of a hydroxyl-containing organic compound selected from the group of C1-C4 monohydric alcohols; and(c) about 0.05 wt % to about 10 wt % of at least one emulsifier;wherein the composition does not include tert-butyl alcohol or a C2-C4 alkylene glycol. 2. The biofuel composition of claim 1, wherein component (a) further comprises about 1 wt % to about 30 wt % of petroleum middle distillate. 3. The biofuel of claim 1, wherein the emulsifier exhibits a hydrophilic-lipophilic balance (HLB) of about 1 to about 7. 4. The biofuel of claim 1, wherein the emulsifier comprises a mixture of at least two emulsifiers wherein at least one of the two emulsifiers exhibits a HLB value of about 1 to about 6 and at least one of the two emulsifiers exhibits a HLB value of about 6 to about 20, provided that the mixture of the at least two emulsifiers exhibits an HLB value of less than about 7. 5. The biofuel of claim 1, wherein the at least one emulsifier is selected from the group consisting of polymeric ester (A-B-A Type), sorbitan ester (monooleate), sorbitan trioleate, polyoxyethylene (20) sorbitan monooleate, diethanolamine, and mixtures thereof. 6. The biofuel of claim 1, wherein the emulsifier is a combination of cocamide diethanolamine and diethanolamine. 7. The biofuel of claim 1, wherein the source of the liquid vegetable oil or liquid animal fat is used cooking oil. 8. The biofuel of claim 1, further comprising an effective amount of an additive to increase the cetane number of the biofuel composition. 9. The biofuel of claim 1, further comprising an effective amount of an additive to increase the pH of the biofuel composition. 10. The biofuel of claim 1, further comprising about 0.1% to about 20% of ethyl lactate. 11. A method of preparing the biofuel composition of claim 1 comprising: mixing the continuous phase component, the aqueous phase component, and the emulsifier to produce a dispersion of water-containing droplets having an average particle size of less than about 30 microns. 12. The method of claim 11, wherein the continuous phase component further contains about 1 wt % to about 30 wt % of petroleum middle distillate. 13. The method of claim 11, wherein the aqueous component further contains about 1 wt % to about 25 wt % of a hydroxyl-containing organic compound selected from the group of C1-C4 monohydric alcohols. 14. The method of claim 11, wherein the emulsifier exhibits a hydrophilic-lipophilic balance, HLB, of about 1 to about 7. 15. The method of claim 11, wherein the at least one emulsifier is selected from the group consisting of polymeric ester (A-B-A Type), sorbitan ester (monooleate), sorbitan trioleate, polyoxyethylene (20) sorbitan monooleate, diethanolamine, and mixtures thereof. 16. The method of claim 11, wherein the emulsifier is a combination of cocamide diethanolamine and diethanolamine. 17. The method of claim 11, wherein the continuous phase component, the aqueous phase component, and the emulsifier are provided and mixed substantially simultaneously. 18. The method of claim 11, wherein the mixing is accomplished using high shear generating mixing equipment. 19. The method of claim 11, wherein the average particle size is about 0.1 to about 5 microns. 20. The method of claim 11, further comprising adding an effective amount of an additive to increase the cetane number of the biofuel composition. 21. The method of claim 11, further comprising adding an additive to increase the pH of the biofuel composition to a range of about 5 to about 7.5. 22. The method of claim 11, further comprising adding about 0.1% to about 20% of ethyl lactate to reduce the viscosity of the biofuel composition. 23. The method of claim 11, wherein the emulsifier comprises a mixture of at least two emulsifiers wherein at least one of the two emulsifiers exhibits a low HLB value of about 1 to about 6 and at least one of the two emulsifiers exhibits a high HLB value of about 6 to about 20, provided that the mixture exhibits an HLB value of less than about 7. 24. The method of claim 11, wherein the liquid vegetable oil or animal fat in the continuous phase component is heated to 80° F. and filtered through a 30 micron filter prior to the mixing step. 25. An emulsified fuel mixture prepared from the following components: (A) 650 parts vegetable or animal oil or fat; and (B) 150 parts water; and (C) 120 parts of an organic solvent (D) 70 parts denatured ethanol 90 wt % (E) 10 parts of a surfactant with a hydrophilic-lipophilic balance of about 5.0; wherein the composition does not include tert-butyl alcohol or a C2-C4 alkylene glycol. 26. An emulsified fuel mixture prepared from the following components: (A) 690 parts vegetable or animal oil or fat; and (B) 150 parts water; and (C) 110 parts of an organic solvent (D) 40 parts of n-butyl alcohol and (E) 9 parts of a surfactant with a hydrophilic-lipophilic balance of about 5.0 and (F) 1 part of ammonium hydroxide 26 Baumé; wherein the composition does not include tert-butyl alcohol or a C2-C4 alkylene glycol.