PHENOMENOLOGICAL STUDY OF THE FORMATION OF INSOLUBLES IN A JET-A FUEL

An aviation fuel in the Jet-A class has been stressed during flow thro ugh stainless-steel tubes under near-isothermal conditions at 185-degr ees-C. The quantity of insolubles in the bulk and on the stainless-ste el surface has been measured as a function of stress duration. Surface deposits are shown to arise primarily from an adhering or reacting pr ecursor formed initially in the bulk fuel. Other bulk in solubles do n ot contribute to surface fouling at this temperature. The formation of bulk and surface insolubles is shown to be tightly coupled to the mea sured depletion of dissolved oxygen. A mechanism is proposed to repres ent the inhibited oxidation based on the presence of sulfur-containing components in the fuel.