Investigation on the Stability of MMT Anti-Knock Additive

Generally some Chinese gasoline has long-term storage from few months to four years, and will be exposed to light in the transportation and distribution processes. So whether the antiknock additive Methylcyclopentadienyl Manganese Tricarbonyl (MMT) can be applied to gasoline is in question. The Fuel Storage Management Administration (FSMA) in China wants to make clear the stability of MMT in gasoline and its effect on the gasoline quality when exposed to sunlight.

In this study the base gasoline was prepared using typical gasoline blending stocks in China. The 28-week darkroom storage experiments at 43 °C were performed to study the storage stability of MMT in gasoline and its influence on the gasoline properties. The sunlight exposure experiments were conducted to assess the photolysis characters of MMT and its impact on the properties of gasoline with the establishment of kinetic equations. Finally the mathematical models were built to predict the variation of induction period and existent gum of MMT gasoline in sunlight exposure outdoors.