JET FUEL DEPOSITION AND OXIDATION - DILUTION, MATERIALS, OXYGEN, AND TEMPERATURE EFFECTS

Quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) and pressure measurements are used f or 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 oxida tion 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 oxidat ion and deposition. Jet fuel was diluted with increasing amounts of hy drocarbon solvent. It was observed that this dilution procedure can he lp characterize a fuel's effective antioxidant concentration. Fuel dil ution is also shown to be a good technique for improving thermal stabi lity characteristics of poor fuels. Additionally we have studied the t emperature effect on deposition for two fuels over the range 140 to 18 0 degrees C.