Jet fuel

Jet fuel is a type of aviation fuel designed for use in aircraft powered by gas-turbine engines. It is clear to straw colored. The most common fuels are Jet A and Jet A-1 which are produced to an internationally standardized set of specifications. The only other jet fuel that is commonly used in civilian turbine engine-powered aviation is called Jet B and is used for its enhanced cold-weather performance.

Jet fuel is a mixture of a large number of different hydrocarbons. The range of their sizes (molecular weights or carbon numbers) is restricted by the requirements for the product, for example, freezing point or smoke point. Kerosene-type jet fuel (including Jet A and Jet A-1) has a carbon number distribution between about 8 and 16 carbon numbers; wide-cut or naphtha-type jet fuel (including Jet B), between about 5 and 15 carbon numbers.^[1]

History of jet fuel

Fuel for a piston-engine powered aircraft (usually a high-octane gasoline known as Avgas) has a low flash point to improve its ignition characteristics. Turbine engines can operate with a wide range of fuels, and jet-aircraft engines typically use fuels with higher flash points, which are less flammable and therefore safer to transport and handle. The first jet fuels were based on kerosene or a gasoline-kerosene mix, and most jet fuels are still kerosene-based.

Types

Jet A

Shell Jet A-1 refueller truck on the ramp at Vancouver International Airport (notice the 1863 Hazardous Material placard and "JET A-1" stickers)

Jet A is the standard jet fuel type in the U.S. since the 1950s and is only available there. Jet A is similar to Jet-A1, except for its higher freezing point of −40 °C (vs −47 °C for Jet A-1). Like Jet A-1, Jet A has a fairly high flash point of 38 °C (100 °F), with an autoignition temperature of 210 °C (410 °F). Jet A can be identified in trucks and storage facilities by the UN number 1863 Hazardous Material placards.^[2] Jet A trucks, storage tanks, and pipes that carry Jet A are marked with a black sticker with a white "Jet A" written over it, next to another black stripe. Jet A will have a clear to straw color if it is clean and free of contamination. Water is denser than Jet A, and will collect on the bottom of a tank. Jet A storage tanks must be sumped on a regular basis to check for water contamination. It is possible for water particles to become suspended in Jet A, which can be found by performing a "Clear and Bright" test. A hazy appearance can indicate water contamination beyond the acceptable limit of 30ppm (parts per million). The US commercial fuels are not required by law to contain antistatic additives, and generally do not.^{[citation needed]} The annual U.S. usage of jet fuel was 21 billion gallons (80 billion litres) in 2006.^[3]

Jet A-1

Jet B

Jet B is a fuel in the naphtha-kerosene region that is used for its enhanced cold-weather performance. However, Jet B's lighter composition makes it more dangerous to handle.^{[citation needed]}

Additives

Both standard jet fuels (Jet A and Jet B) may contain a number of additives:^{[citation needed]}

• Antioxidants to prevent gumming, usually based on alkylated phenols, eg. AO-30, AO-31, or AO-37;
• Antistatic agents, to dissipate static electricity and prevent sparking; Stadis 450, with dinonylnaphthylsulfonic acid (DINNSA) as the active ingredient, is an example
• Corrosion inhibitors, e.g. DCI-4A used for civilian and military fuels, and DCI-6A used for military fuels;
• Fuel System Icing Inhibitor (FSII) agents, e.g. Di-EGME; FSII is often mixed at the point-of-sale so that users with heated fuel lines do not have to pay the extra expense.
• Biocide can be added if evidence of bacterial colonies inside the fuel system exists.

Military jet fuels

Military organisations around the world use a different classification system of JP numbers. Some are almost identical to their civilian counterparts and differ only by the amounts of a few additives; Jet A-1 is similar to JP-8, Jet B is similar to JP-4. Other military fuels are highly specialized products and are developed for very specific applications. JP-5 fuel is fairly common, and was introduced to reduce the risk of fire on aircraft carriers (has a higher flash point - a minimum of 60 °C). Other fuels were specific to one type of aircraft. JP-6 was developed specifically for the XB-70 Valkyrie and JP-7 for the SR-71 Blackbird. Both these fuels were engineered to have a high flash point to better cope with the heat and stresses of high speed supersonic flight. One aircraft-specific jet fuel still in use by the United States Air Force is JPTS, which was developed in 1956 for the Lockheed U-2 spy plane.

Jet fuels are sometimes classified as kerosene or naphtha-type.^{[citation needed]} Kerosene-type fuels include Jet A, Jet A1, JP-5 and JP-8. Naphtha-type jet fuels, sometimes referred to as "wide-cut" jet fuel, include Jet B and JP-4.^{[citation needed]}

Piston engine use

Jet fuel is very similar to diesel fuel, and in some cases may be burned in diesel engines. The possibility of environmental legislation banning the use of leaded avgas, and the lack of a replacement fuel with similar performance has left aircraft designers and pilot's organizations searching for alternative engines for use in small aircraft.^[5] As a result, a few aircraft engine manufacturers, most notably Thielert, have begun offering diesel aircraft engines which run on jet fuel. This technology has potential to simplify airport logistics by reducing the number of fuel types required. Jet fuel is available in most places in the world, whereas avgas is only widely available in the few countries which have a large number of general aviation aircraft. A diesel engine may also potentially be more environmentally-friendly and fuel-efficient than an avgas engine. However, very few diesel aircraft engines have been certified by aviation authorities, and widespread use of diesel aircraft engines is still years in the future.

Jet fuel is often used in ground support vehicles at airports, instead of diesel. The United States military makes heavy use of JP-8, for instance. However, jet fuel tends to have poor lubricating ability in comparison to diesel, thereby increasing wear on fuel pumps and other related engine parts.^{[citation needed]} Civilian vehicles tend to disallow its use, or require that an additive be mixed with the jet fuel in order to restore its lubricity. Jet fuel is also significantly more expensive than diesel, so using it in ground vehicles is considered by some to be wasteful.

Jet biofuels

The airline industry is responsible for two percent of the global greenhouse gases emitted.^[6] Boeing estimates that biofuels could reduce flight-related greenhouse-gas emissions by 60 to 80 percent. The solution would be blending algae fuels with existing jet fuel: ^[7]

Green Flight International flew the World's first jet aircraft on 100% biofuel. The flight from Nevada's Reno - Stead airport was in a single engine L-29 piloted by Carol Sugars and Douglas Rodante.^[8]

• Boeing and Air New Zealand are collaborating with leading Brazilian biofuels maker Tecbio ^[9] and Aquaflow Bionomic of New Zealand and other jet biofuel developers around the world.
• Virgin Atlantic successfully tested a biofuel blend made from 20% babassu nuts and coconut and 80% conventional jet fuel fed to a single engine on a 747 flight from London to Amsterdam. ^[10]
• A consortium consisting of Boeing, NASA Glenn Research Center, MTU Aero Engines (Germany), and the US Air Force Research Laboratory is investigating development of jet fuel blends containing a substantial percentage of bio-fuel. ^[11]

Oil prices increased about fivefold from 2003-2008, raising fears that world petroleum production is becoming unable to keep up with demand. The near-total dependency on petroleum for aviation fuel adds extra urgency to the search for alternatives: twenty-five airlines went bust or stopped operations in the first six months of 2008 and more could fold as fuel prices soar, IATA warned ^[12] .

See also

References

External links

• Day, Dwayne A., Aviation Fuel
• Aviation Fuels Technical Review (by Chevron Global Aviation)
• Future Fuels Aviation Summit
• Jet A MSDS
• Jet fuel information
• Jet Fuel Price Monitor (IATA)
• The future of aviation fuel with Experimental Aircraft
• Biofuel Could Lighten Jet Fuel's Carbon Footprint Over 80 Percent.