Jet Fuel Deposition and Oxidation: Dilution, Materials, Oxygen, and Temperature Effects

Abstract

Quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) and pressure measurements are used for determination of jet fuel thermal stability in a batch reactor. The QCM is able to monitor extremely small amounts of deposition in situ, while the pressure measurements provide qualitative data on the oxidation process. The dependence of the deposition amount was monitored as a function of the oxygen availability for two fuels. Also, the effect of QCM electrode materials was investigated. Deposition and oxidation were compared for the following electrode materials: gold, aluminum, silver, and platinum. We also studied the effect of dilution on oxidation and deposition. Jet fuel was diluted with increasing amounts of hydrocarbon solvent. It was observed that this dilution procedure can help characterize a fuel’s effective antioxidant concentration. Fuel dilution is also shown to be a good technique for improving thermal stability characteristics of poor fuels. Additionally we have studied the temperature effect on deposition for two fuels over the range 140 to 180°C.