Improvements in the measurement of distillation curves. 4. Application to the aviation turbine fuel Jet-A

We have recently introduced several important improvements in the measurement of distillation curves for complex fluids. The modifications to the classical measurement provide for (1) temperature and volume measurements of low uncertainty, (2) temperature control based upon fluid behavior, and, most important, (3) a composition-explicit data channel in addition to the usual temperature-volume relationship. This latter modification is achieved with a new sampling approach that allows precise qualitative as well as quantitative analyses of each fraction, on the fly. We have applied the new method to the measurement of rocket propellant, gasoline, and jet fuels. In this paper, we present the application of the technique to representative batches of the important aviation fuel Jet-A. The motivation behind the work is to provide a property database for the planned expansion of the use of military aviation fuel JP-8, which is nearly identical to Jet-A. JP-8 also contains an icing inhibitor, corrosion/lubricity enhancer, and antistatic additive. This fluid (JP-8) is currently the primary gas turbine fuel used by the United States Air Force and also naval shore-based aircraft. There is now interest in the United States Department of Defense to use this fuel for all military applications, including ground-based forces. This would mean use of JP-8 in tanks, armored personnel carriers, and other vehicles. This interest has renewed interest in the chemical and physical properties of JP-8, to facilitate adaptation and design. Since one of the most important design parameters for a fuel is the distillation curve, it is critical that the new approach be applied to the base fluid representative for JP-8, namely, Jet-A.