Process for producing ferrous picrate and a fuel additive containing

Abstract

A process for producing ferrous picrate and a fuel additive containing ferrous picrate. Picric acid is dissolved in an organic solvent which has a low solubility for water. The resultant mixture is filtered and substantially all water is removed from the filtered mixture before an alcohol, preferably an alcohol which is not hygroscopic, is added to the filtered, dewatered mixture. Powdered elemental iron is added to the mixture that includes the alcohol; the reaction mixture resulting from the previous steps is preferably agitated until such reaction mixture becomes substantially homogeneous; and, if needed, sufficient water is added to the reaction mixture to create a conductive medium which enables the requisite ionic reaction to proceed at a reasonable rate. The concentration of water is, however, maintained below a level where the water causes the additive to be undesirably unstable. The reaction mixture is then agitated with sufficient force that large ferrous picrate molecules are moved away from unreacted iron atoms with adequate power and speed to permit picric acid molecules to reach unreacted iron atoms quickly enough to achieve a reasonable reaction rate. Preferably, before the iron is added, it is washed with an activating acid to clean its surface, with water to remove the activating acid, and with a hygroscopic alcohol to eliminate the water. Also preferably, the iron is flushed into the reaction mixture with a hygroscopic alcohol to facilitate dissolving the water in the reaction mixture.