Jet Fuel also is known as Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) is an aviation fuel designed only for the use of them in aircraft. It can be used in air crafts that are equipped with gas turbine engines. The best jet fuels used are Jet A and Jet A-1. Jet B is also used for air crafts for special purposes and applications. Jeb B is used when there is a need for running an aircraft in cold weathers.
The burning temperatures of jet fuel depend on the type of fuel we are using and also the quality of the jet fuel. Jet fuel burns at a temperature ranging from 800 degrees Fahrenheit to 1500 degrees Fahrenheit. The color and appearance of jet fuel are straw colored. The melting temperature is -47 degrees Centigrade and the boiling temperature is 176 degrees Centigrade. The flash point of the jet fuel is 38 degrees Centigrade and the auto ignition temperature is 210 degrees Centigrade. Normally jet fuel is a mixture of a large variety of hydrocarbons and their range of sizes can be defined with the help of requirements of the product. The requirements can be named such as freezing point, smoking point or more.
Surprisingly, water is a very important part of jet fuel. We need to be sure that the jet fuel is completely free from water contamination. During the flight, the fuel temperature in the tanks of aircraft decreases to a very low temperature. This decrease in temperature is only due to the low temperatures in the upper atmosphere. This makes the precipitation of water in the fuel tank and so it becomes denser than the fuel present in the tank. These freezings in the fuel tank may cause the supercooled droplets to collide and sometimes result in blocked fuel inlet. So fuel heaters will be used to prevent the freezing of water in the fuel tank.
Military jet fuels are used by military organizations with different classifications of jet propellant. They differ from the normal ones by few additives. JP-1 was the first type of fuel specified in 1944 and is a pure kerosene with very high flash point and low freezing point. The freezing point of JP-1 is -60 degrees C. JP-2 and JP-3 are old types which are not in use and are mostly used during the times of World War – 2. JP-2 has a higher freezing point when compared to JP-1 and so it is used. It is not mostly for several years and is used only until the production of JP-3. JP-3 was more violative than JP-2 and JP-1. JP-4 has come into play with constituents of 50 % kerosene and 50 % gasoline blend and has a much lower flash point than JP-1. This was used mostly only due to the greater extent of availability. JP-5 has been used for aircraft carriers where there is more risk of fire. It is a complex mixture of hydrocarbons and has a very high flash point like 140 degrees F. This is the minimum flash point temperature. JP’s continues to go further and is now Syntroleum after Zip fuel. There are more upcoming fuel types with much higher flash points and lower freezing points.
