| abstract |
Low sulfur diesel fuels which are useful for diesel engines equipped with traps for particulate matter in the exhaust system. Said fuels contain an effective quantity of an organo-metallic complex intended to lower the temperature of calcination of the exhaust particles collected in the trap. The sulfur content of these diesel fuels does not exceed about 0.1% by weight, and preferably about 0.05% by weight. The organo-metallic complex is soluble or stably dispersible in said diesel fuel and is derived from (1) an organic compound containing at least two functional groups attached to a hydrocarbon bond and (ii) a metal reactant capable of forming a complex with the organic compound (i), said metal being any metal capable of reducing the ignition temperature of the exhaust particles. Functional groups include =X, -XR, -NR2, -NO2, =NR, =NXR, =RR*-XR, (I), (II), (III), -CN-N=NR and -N= CR2 where X is O or S, R is H or hydrocarbyl, R* is hydrocarbylene or hydrocarbylidene and a is a number (ie, zero to about 10). Useful metals are Na, K, Mg, Ca, Sr, Ba, Ti, Zr, V, Cr, Mo, Mn, Fe, Co, Cu, Zn, B, Pb, Sb and mixtures of two or more of these metals. The present invention also describes methods for operating a diesel engine equipped with a particulate matter trap in the exhaust system using said low sulfur diesel fuels. |