Autoxidation of Fuels During Storage

Abstract

Petroleum fuels are expected not to show any chemical changes during storage under certain conditions. Yet, a slow process of uncontrollable oxidation, also called autoxidation or self-oxidation, of which the mechanism is not thoroughly investigated, may occur even in a stable storage environment. The problem of autoxidation of fuels has gained particular importance after the introduction of product streams originating from the deep-processing of petroleum, e.g., cracking, as components of fuels. The chemical changes, involved in the degradation of fuels, are not very well known yet, therefore, it is hard to predict the duration of storage for such fuel or to control the rate of its ageing. Stability of fuels during storage depends on their chemical composition, especially, the presence in them of compounds containing heteroatoms of oxygen, sulfur, nitrogen, traces of metal ions which catalyze oxidation processes, as well as on their storage conditions, such as temperature, access of light, possibility to absorb oxygen.