n-Alkane Distributions, Wax Settling Levels, and Responses to Flow Improvers in Diesel Distillations

Abstract

The authors have statistically analyzed the relationship between the distributions of n-alkanes in diesels and the response of the diesel flow improver (DFI) to explore the reasons for the performance variation of DFIs. Diesel with a small n-alkane distribution variance showed a weak sensitivity to the DFI. The wax settling levels of the diesels were calculated at low temperature using a thermodynamic model and were found to increase as the n-alkane distribution variance decreased. Higher levels of settled crystals led to the poor performance of the DFI in the diesel with a small n-alkane distribution variance.

Keywords:

• diesel flow improver
• diesel oil
• mathematical statistics
• n-alkane
• thermodynamic model