Abstract
The compatibility of key infrastructure elastomers with five ketone molecules was assessed via solubility studies and volume swell measurements. The elastomer materials included two fluorocarbons, six acrylonitrile butadiene rubbers (NBRs), and one each of fluorosilicone, neoprene, polyurethane, styrene butadiene rubber (SBR), and silicone. The ketone molecules included acetone, 2-butanone, 2-pentanone, 2-nonanone, and cyclopentanone. The ketones were added to gasoline containing 10% ethanol (E10) and a blendstock for oxygenate blending (BOB) in levels ranging from 0% to 30% by volume. The elastomers were exposed for 4 weeks in each test fluid. The solubility was modeled using Hansen solubility parameters and the volume change was determined for each material and test fuel. In general, the volume swell increased with ketone content and corresponded well to the predicted solubilities. In most cases, the highest level of swelling occurred with added cyclopentanone and acetone, while 2-nonanone produced the lowest levels of volume expansion. The chain length of the straight ketones was found to affect the volume swell behavior as volume expansion decreased with increasing chain length. This behavior is attributed to the reduction in polarity and hydrogen bonding with chain length. Neoprene, SBR, and silicone exhibited poor compatibility with the ketone molecules at all blend levels. Fluorocarbon and fluorosilicone also showed poor compatibility but may be suitable for use as static seals in very low blend levels with 2-nonanone. The results were more mixed for polyurethane and the NBRs. In general, better compatibility (low volume swell) was observed for mixtures containing BOB than for E10. This is due to the lower polarity and hydrogen bonding of the BOB.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 645-663 |
| Number of pages | 19 |
| Journal | Journal of Elastomers and Plastics |
| Volume | 52 |
| Issue number | 7 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Nov 1 2020 |
Funding
The authors gratefully acknowledge the support and direction of Alicia Lindauer at BETO, Kevin Stork at VTO, and the Co-Optima leadership team. The authors are also very appreciative of cooperation and guidance received from Dr Steven Abbott of the Hansen Solubility Team. Declaration of conflicting interests The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. Funding The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This article and the work described were sponsored by the US Department of Energy (DOE) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) and Vehicle Technologies Office (VTO) under the DOE Co-Optimization of Fuels and Engines Initiative. ORCID iD Mike Kass https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9072-2100 Data accessibility statement This manuscript has been authored by UT-Battelle, LLC under Contract No. DE-AC05-00OR22725 with the US Department of Energy. The United States Government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the United States Government retains a nonexclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, world-wide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this manuscript, or allow others to do so, for United States Government purposes. The Department of Energy will provide public access to these results of federally sponsored research in accordance with the DOE Public Access Plan ( http://energy.gov/downloads/doe-public-access-plan ). The authors gratefully acknowledge the support and direction of Alicia Lindauer at BETO, Kevin Stork at VTO, and the Co-Optima leadership team. The authors are also very appreciative of cooperation and guidance received from Dr Steven Abbott of the Hansen Solubility Team. The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This article and the work described were sponsored by the US Department of Energy (DOE) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) and Vehicle Technologies Office (VTO) under the DOE Co-Optimization of Fuels and Engines Initiative.
Keywords
- Elastomer
- compatibility
- ethanol
- gasoline
- ketone
- solubility