NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Aviation fuel

Aviation fuel is a specialized type of petroleum-based fuel used to power anything such as cars, boats but mainly aircraft. It is generally of a higher quality than fuels used in less critical applications such as heating or road transport, and often contains additives to reduce the risk of icing or explosion due to high temperatures, amongst other properties. ImageMetadata File history File links Download high resolution version (2272x1704, 724 KB) A Shell Jet A refueller truck on the ramp at Vancouver International Airport. ... ImageMetadata File history File links Download high resolution version (2272x1704, 724 KB) A Shell Jet A refueller truck on the ramp at Vancouver International Airport. ... ImageMetadata File history File links Download high resolution version (2592x1944, 587 KB) On Roland-Garros airport near Saint-Denis, RÃ©union island: a truck carrying refueling piping refuels a Air Austral Boeing 777 from underground pipes supplying Jet A-1 fuel (August 24, 2005) AÃ©roport Roland-Garror, prÃ¨s... ImageMetadata File history File links Download high resolution version (2592x1944, 587 KB) On Roland-Garros airport near Saint-Denis, RÃ©union island: a truck carrying refueling piping refuels a Air Austral Boeing 777 from underground pipes supplying Jet A-1 fuel (August 24, 2005) AÃ©roport Roland-Garror, prÃ¨s... Pumpjack pumping an oil well near Lubbock, Texas Ignacy Åukasiewicz - inventor of the refining of kerosene from crude oil. ... Look up aircraft in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... HVAC may also stand for High-voltage alternating current HVAC is an initialism that stands for heating, ventilation and air-conditioning. This is sometimes referred to as climate control. ... Disruptions in organized traffic flow can create delays lasting hours. ...

Most aviation fuels available for aircraft are kinds of gasoline used in engines with spark plugs i.e. piston engines and Wankel rotaries or fuel for jet turbine engines which is also used in diesel aircraft engines. Alcohol, alcohol mixtures and other alternative fuels may be used experimentally but are not generally available. Gasoline or petrol is a petroleum-derived liquid mixture consisting mostly of hydrocarbons and enhanced with benzene or iso-octane to increase octane ratings, used as fuel in internal combustion engines. ... Components of a typical, four stroke cycle, DOHC piston engine. ... First Wankel Engine NSU KKM 57P Autovision und Forum, Germany Wankel Engine in Deutsches Museum Munich, Germany The Wankel rotary engine is a type of internal combustion engine, invented by German engineer Felix Wankel, which uses a rotor instead of reciprocating pistons. ...

Avgas is sold in much lower volumes, but to many more individual aircraft, whereas Jet Fuel is sold in high volumes to large aircraft operated typically by airlines, military and large corporate aircraft. // Avgas is a high-octane fuel used for aircraft and, in the past, racing cars. ...

The Convention on International Civil Aviation, which came into effect in 1947, exempted air fuels from tax. Australia and the USA oppose a worldwide levy on aviation fuel, but a number of other countries have expressed interest. The Convention on International Civil Aviation, also known as the Chicago Convention, established the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a specialized agency of the United Nations charged with coordinating and regulating international air travel. ... 1947 (MCMXLVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1947 calendar). ...

Avgas

See main article for Avgas. // Avgas is a high-octane fuel used for aircraft and, in the past, racing cars. ...

Jet fuel

See main article for Jet fuel. Jet fuel is a type of aviation fuel designed for use in jet-engined aircraft. ...

In use

Aviation fuel is often dispensed from a tanker or bowser which is driven up to parked aeroplanes and helicopters. Some airports have pumps similar to filling stations that aircraft must taxi up to. Some extremely large airports also have permanent piping to parking areas for large aircraft. A powered, airport fuel bowser. ... This article refers to the tool of travel. ... A helicopter is an aircraft which is lifted and propelled by one or more horizontal rotors consisting of two or more rotor blades. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...

Regardless of the method, aviation fuel is transferred to an aircraft via one of two methods: overwing and underwing. Overwing fuelling is used on smaller planes, helicopters, and all piston-engine aircraft. Overwing fuelling is similar to automobile fuelling — one or more fuel ports are opened and fuel is pumped in with a conventional pump. Underwing fuelling, also called single-point, is used on larger aircraft and for jet fuel exclusively. For single-point fuelling, a high-pressure hose is attached and fuel is pumped in at up to 50 PSI. Since there is only one attachment point, fuel distribution between tanks is either automated or it is controlled from a control panel at the fueling point or in the cockpit. As well, a dead man's switch is used to control fuel flow. Karl Benzs Velo (vÃ©lo means bicycle in French) model (1894) - entered into the first automobile race 2005 MINI Cooper S. An automobile (also motor car or simply car) is a wheeled passenger vehicle that carries its own motor. ... A pressure gauge reading in PSI (red scale) and kPa (black scale) The pound-force per square inch (symbol: lbf/inÂ²) is a non-SI unit of pressure based on avoirdupois units. ... A dead mans switch (for other names, see Alternative names), as its name suggests, is a device intended to stop a machine in case the human operator becomes incapacitated, and is a form of fail-safe. ...

Because of the danger of confusing the fuel types, a number of precautions are taken to distinguish between AvGas and Jet Fuel beyond clearly marking all containers, vehicles, and piping. AvGas is treated with either a red, green, or blue dye, and is dispensed from nozzles with a diameter of 40 millimetres (49 millimetres in the USA). The aperture on fuel tanks of piston-engined aircraft cannot be greater than 60 millimetres in diameter. Jet Fuel is clear to straw in colour, and is dispensed from a special nozzle called a "J spout" that has a rectangular opening larger than 60 millimetres in diameter so as not to fit into AvGas ports. However, some jet and turbine aircraft, such as some models of the Astar helicopter, have a fueling port too small for the J spout and thus require a smaller nozzle to be installed in order to be refuelled efficiently. Rocket Nozzle A nozzle is a mechanical device designed to control the characteristics of a fluid flow as it exits from an enclosed chamber into some medium. ... DIAMETER is an AAA protocol (Authentication, Authorization and Accounting) succeeding its predecessor RADIUS. // The name is a pun on the RADIUS protocol, which is the predecessor (a diameter is twice the radius). ... To help compare different orders of magnitude this page lists lengths between 10-2 m and 10-1 m (1 cm and 10 cm). ... A millimetre (American spelling: millimeter, symbol mm) is an SI unit of length that is equal to one thousandth of a metre. ...

Energy content

The net energy content for aviation fuels depends on their composition. Some typical values are:[1] The lower heating value (also known as net calorific value or LHV) of a fuel is defined as the amount of heat released by combusting a specified quantity (initially at 25 Â°C or another reference state) and returning the temperature of the combustion products to 150 Â°C. The lower heating...

Chemical composition

Aviation fuels consist of blends of over a thousand chemicals, primarily Hydrocarbons (paraffins, olefins, naphthenes, and aromatics) as well as additives such as antioxidants and metal deativators, and impurities. Principal components include n-octane and isooctane. Like other fuels, blends of Aviation fuel are often described by their Octane rating. Oil refineries are key to obtaining hydrocarbons; crude oil is processed through several stages to form desirable hydrocarbons, used in fuel and other commercial products. ... Paraffin is a common name for a group of alkane hydrocarbons with the general formula CnH2n+2, where n is greater than about 20, discovered by Carl Reichenbach. ... The chemical structure of ethylene, the simplest alkene. ... cyclobutane Cycloalkanes are chemical compounds with a one or more rings of carbons to which hydrogens are attached according to the formula CnH2n. ... In chemistry, an aromatic molecule is one in which electrons are free to cycle around circular arrangements of atoms, which are alternately singly and doubly bonded to one another. ... Space-filling model of the antioxidant metabolite glutathione. ... Octane is an alkane with the chemical formula CH3(CH2)6CH3. ... R-phrases , , , , S-phrases , , , , , , , Flash point 4. ... This cites very few or no references or sources. ...

Safety precautions

Any fuelling operation can be very dangerous, and aviation fuelling has a number of unique characteristics which must be accommodated. As an aircraft flies through the air, it can accumulate a charge of static electricity. If this is not dissipated before fuelling, an electric arc can occur which may ignite fuel vapours. To prevent this, aircraft are electrically bonded to the fuelling apparatus before fuelling begins, and are not disconnected until fuelling is complete. Some regions require that the aircraft and/or fuel truck be grounded as well. Static electricity is a class of phenomena involving the net charge present on an object; typically referring to charged object with voltages of sufficient magnitude to produce visible attraction, repulsion, and sparks. ...

Aviation fuel can cause severe environmental damage, and all fuelling vehicles must carry equipment to control fuel spills. As well, fire extinguishers must be present at any fuelling operation, and airport firefighting forces are specially trained and equipped to handle aviation fuel fires and spills. Aviation fuel must be checked daily and before every flight for contaminants such as water or dirt. Fire extinguisher A fire extinguisher is a device used to put out a fire, often in an emergency situation. ... Impact from a water drop causes an upward rebound jet surrounded by circular capillary waves. ...

Many airlines now require that safety belts be left unfastened should passengers be aboard when refuelling happens.

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