The present invention relates to a process for reacting epoxides with an initiator compound in the presence of a double metal cyanide compound as a catalyst, said process having a shortened induction period, and the double metal cyanide compound being activated by adding the epoxide to a mixture of double metal cyanide compound and initiator compound at an internal reactor pressure of less than 1 bar, and also to the polyethers themselves obtainable by such a process.

Petroleum emulsion breakers based on alkoxylated polyethyleneimines are obtained by reacting polyethyleneimine with a molecular weight of 2,500-35,000 with 5-40 moles each of propylene oxide and ethylene oxide per ethyleneimine unit in the polyethyleneimine and are used for the demulsification of petroleum emulsions at from 10.degree. C. to 130.degree. C.

Oil demulsifiers are based on an alkoxylate having a polydispersity of at least 1.7, and the alkoxylates are prepared using a metal alcoholate as a catalyst.

The present invention relates to polyethers which are obtainable from 1 -butene oxide and an alcohol using a double metal cyanide compound as a catalyst and have a content of unsaturated components of 6 mol% or more, to a process for preparing such a polyether and also to the use of a polyether according to the invention as a carrier oil or in a carrier oil formulation, in particular in additive packages for gasoline fuels, and furthermore also to carrier oil formulations and also to fuels compr...

The present invention relates to methods of demulsifying employing condensates as demulsifiers for oil-in-water emulsions and prepared from A) a precondensate from one or more trialkanolamines of the general formula I ##STR1## in which R.sup.1 to R.sup.3 denote the same or different 1,2-alkylene groups of from 2 to 4 carbon atoms, and B) from 0.1 to 30% w/w, based on said precondensate, of one or more of the following compounds II: a) urea or a urea derivative of the general formula IIa ##STR2##...

The present invention relates to the use of trialkanolamine polyethers obtained by condensation of one or more trialkanolamines in the presence of phosphorous acid and/or hypophosphorous acid as demulsifiers for oil-in-water emulsions.