Compatibility of fuel additives

Abstract

of the developer, and it can be evaluated quite thoroughly. In Russia, formulations including antioxidants, detergents, antismoke agents, and antiwear agents have been developed and approved for use; thus far, no additive packages as such are in actual use. Within any given fuel, different types of additives may be mixed, while nothing whatever is known about the additive interactions with each other. The problem of fuel additive compatibility is extremely complex, and it cannot be clarified in the few publications that have been devoted to this problem. Some of the aspects of fuel additive compatibility are examined in the present article. In the general case, fuel additives are surfactants that form either true or colloidal solutions in the fuel. Among those forming true solutions are antioxidants based on dialkylamines or hindered phenols, and also antiknock agents based on tetraethyllead or metallocenes. Additives that form colloidal solutions in fuels are far more numerous. The additives in this class are macromolecular compounds with active functional groups. Some of them are surfactants by virtue of their mechanism of action (detergents, pour-point depressants, dispersants). Others, such as antismoke additives, are not necessarily surfactants, but in effect they are surfactants because of specific features of molecular structure of the primary substance. We have found that the nature of the additive/fuel solution can be used as a starting point in drawing tentative conclusions