Esterified oil soluble polyalkylene glycols
Embodiments of the present disclosure are directed processes to produce a low-color esterified oil soluble polyalkylene glycol, the process comprising forming a reaction mixture including a low viscosity oil soluble polyalkylene glycol and an excess amount of valeric acid, where the reaction mixture is formed in the presence of a catalytic amount of ortho-phosphoric acid catalyst to yield an organic phase including the low-color esterified oil soluble polyalkylene glycol.
1 . A process to produce a low-color esterified oil soluble polyalkylene glycol, the process comprising forming a reaction mixture including a low viscosity oil soluble polyalkylene glycol and an excess amount of valeric acid, wherein the reaction mixture is formed in the presence of a catalytic amount of ortho-phosphoric acid catalyst to yield the low-color esterified oil soluble polyalkylene glycol;
wherein the low-color esterified oil soluble polyalkylene glycol has a Kinematic Viscosity at 100° C. (KV100) as determined in accordance with ASTM D7042 of 4 mm 2 /second or less.
2 . The process of claim 1 , wherein the low viscosity oil soluble polyalkylene glycol and the excess amount of valeric acid are present in a molar ratio from 1.01 moles of acid:1 mole of oil soluble polyalkylene glycol to 10 moles of acid:1 mole of oil soluble polyalkylene glycol.
3 . The process of claim 1 , wherein the low-color esterified oil soluble polyalkylene glycol has a color as determined in accordance with ASTM D1209 of less than 110 American Public Health Association (APHA) units.
4 . The process of claim 1 , wherein the low-color esterified oil soluble polyalkylene glycol has a viscosity index as determined in accordance with ASTM D2270 of greater than 160.
5 . The process of claim 1 , wherein the low-color esterified oil soluble polyalkylene glycol has a viscosity index as determined in accordance with ASTM D2270 of greater than 160 and has a color in accordance with ASTM D1209 of less than 100 APHA units.
6 . The process of claim 5 , wherein the low-color esterified oil soluble polyalkylene glycol has a KV100 as determined in accordance with ASTM D7042 of 3.2 mm 2 /second or less.
7 . The process of claim 1 , wherein the process is a solvent-free process including less than 1.0% by weight of total weight of the reaction mixture.
8 . The process of claim 1 , further comprising: removing a remaining amount of the excess amount of valeric acid following formation of the low-color esterified oil soluble polyalkylene glycol; and removing the catalytic amount of ortho-phosphoric acid following removal of the remaining amount of the excess amount of valeric acid.
9 . The process of claim 8 , further comprising recycling the removed remaining amount of the excess amount of valeric acid as an input to the process.
10 . The process of claim 1 , further comprising removing the low-color esterified oil soluble polyalkylene glycol from an organic phase, and drying the removed low-color esterified oil soluble polyalkylene glycol to yield a dry low-color esterified oil soluble polyalkylene glycol, wherein the dry low-color esterified oil soluble polyalkylene glycol has less than about 5 weight percent by weight of oil soluble polyalkylene glycol based on a total weight of the dried low-color esterified oil soluble polyalkylene glycol.
11 . The process of claim 1 , wherein the low viscosity oil soluble polyalkylene glycol has a theoretical normal boiling point that is greater than a normal boiling point of the valeric acid.