Fuels containing polyoxyalkylene ether demulsifiers

Claim 1

A fuel composition comprising a major amount of a liquid hydrocarbon fuel boiling in the gasoline range said full containing a detergent additive and a demulsifier, in an amount sufficient to inhibit emulsion formation of said fuel with water, said demulsifier selected from the group of polyoxyalkylene ether compounds derived from a mixture of ethylene oxide and propylene oxide and terminated with acetal or ester groups, said ester derived from the reaction of said ether with an alkyl carboxylic acid having from 8 to 20 carbon atoms and wherein said polyoxyalkylene ether compounds are selected from the group represented by the formulas: X [(C.sub.3 H.sub.6 O).sub.n --E--H].sub.x (a) wherein X is the residue of an organic compound containing therein x active hydrogen atoms, n is an integer, x is an integer greater than 1, the values of n and x are such that the molecular weight of the compound, exclusive of E, is at least 900, E is a polyoxyalkylene chain wherein the oxygen/carbon atom ratio is at least 0.5, and E constitutes 20-90 percent by weight of the compound, Y(PK).sub.y H.sub.y (b) wherein Y is the residue of an organic compound having y reactive hydrogens and up to 6 carbon atoms, P is a hydrophobic polyoxyalkylene chain having an oxygen/carbon atom ratio of not more than 0.40, the molecular weight of P and the value of y being such that the molecule excluding K has a molecular weight of at least about 400 to 900 and up to about 25,000 and K is a hydrophilic polyoxyalkylene chain which (1) contains oxyethylene groups and at least 5 percent by weight of higher molecular weight oxyalkylene groups having at least 3 carbon atoms in their structure, and (2) has an average oxygen/carbon atom ratio of greater than 0.40, K being present in the composition in an amount sufficient to constitute from about 10 percent to about 90 percent by weight of the total composition, and RO(A).sub.m H (c) wherein R is a straight chain alkyl group having from 8 to 20 carbon atoms, A is a mixture of oxypropylene and oxyethylene groups, the oxypropylene to oxyethylene ratio of said total weight being from 0.5:1 to 2.75:1, and m is an integer such that the oxyalkylene groups constitute from 55 to 80 percent by weight of the compound.