Effects of Fuel Slosh and Vibration on the Flammability Hazards of Hydrocarbon Turbine Fuels Within Aircraft Fuel Tanks

Abstract

The report deals with the effects of liquid fuel motion on the flammability of hydrocarbon turbine fuels in aircraft fuel tanks. Three military turbine fuels, JP-4, JP-5, and JP-8, were used in the testing. The fuels were placed in an explosion proof cylindrical test vessel (80-gallon capacity) and subjected to slosh and vibration. An electric arc was formed within the ullage which ignited any flammable fuel-air mixture present. The pressure rise from combustion was measured and correlated with initial conditions. The major effect of fuel slosh and vibration was to lower or abolish the lean flammabile temperature limit of the fuel. The rich flammable temperature limit was unchanged. An analysis was performed on these results and an explanation proposed based upon the hypothesis that all the fuel vapor in the ullage burns for combustion below the flash point.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Nov 01, 1970
Accession Number
AD0718091

Entities

People

  • Edwin E. Ott

Organizations

  • Air Force Research Laboratory

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Ground and Sea Platforms
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Air Force Facilities
  • Aircrafts
  • Chemical Reactions
  • Combustion
  • Electric Arcs
  • Equations
  • Fires
  • Flammability
  • Flash Point
  • Frequency
  • Fuel Systems
  • Fuel Tanks
  • Heat Capacity
  • Ignition
  • Physical Properties
  • Vapor Pressure

Readers

  • Petroleum Engineering
  • Structural Dynamics.