Removal of water haze from distillate fuel

Abstract

A method of de-hazing distillate fuel is disclosed which comprises adding to the fuel a solution of a halide salt dissolved in an alcohol, and an alcohol soluble organosiloxane. The halide salt may be the chloride of magnesium, cadmium, copper, nickel or the tetra methyl ammonium group, for example the salt may have the formula MgCl.sub.2.6H.sub.2 O or (CH.sub.3).sub.4 NCl. The organosiloxane may be a cyclic, linear or branched material and may have e.g. a minor amount of siloxane units having the general formula ##EQU1## and a minor amount of siloxane units having the general formula ##EQU2## in which each R represents a substituted or unsubstituted hydrocarbon group of up to ten carbon atoms, a has the value 0, 1, 2, or 3, b has the value 0, 1 or 2, c has the value 1 or 2, and each Z represents a group linked to the silicon atom and comprising a functional organic group. Each group Z may be a group selected from the polyoxyalkylene group R'(OCH.sub.2 CH.sub.2).sub.p (OCH.sub.2 CH.CH.sub.3).sub.r OR', the amine group R'NHQ, the quaternary ammonium salt R'NR.sub.3.sup.2 X, the carboxylate group R'CO.sub.2 M, the sulphonate group R'SO.sub.3 M, or the hydroxyl group, in which R' represents a group which provides a link to the silicon atom through an oxygen or a carbon atom, p has a value in the range 1 to 100, r has a value in the range 0 to 50, the sum of p and q is in the range 2 to 100, R' represents a hydrogen atom, an alkyl group or an acyl group, Q represents a hydrogen atom or a group R'NHQ, each R.sup.2 represents an alkyl group, X represents a halide ion and each group M represents a cation.