The role of amines as diesel fuel extenders

Generally, chemical compounds with a pro-knock behaviour in gasoline have a beneficial effect on the cetane number. Therefore, amines of various struc tures were assessed as potential diesel fuel extenders. Although the additi on of small amounts of many primary amines in gasoline significantly increa ses the octane number of the fuel blend, the movement towards the correspon ding tertiary amines has a strong negative effect on octane number. Measure ments of cetane numbers and cold-flow properties (cloud point, pour point a nd cold filter plugging point) of amines of different structure were made. It is concluded that the permethylated mono-, di- and polyamines investigat ed, enhance the ignition quality of the base fuel and also have good cold-f low performance. The tertiary methylated fatty amines offer the extra benef it that they can be produced from renewable starting materials (fatty acids ), and, thus may act as extenders not only for mineral diesel but also for biodiesel.