Feasibility Study of Turbine Fuel Gels for Reduction of Crash Fire Hazards

摘要

Several additives for gelling turbine fuel were studied and tested to predict (1) their ability to reduce or prevent fuel fire in aircraft crashes and (2) their ability to maintain the turbine engine quality of the fuel. An additive known as N-coco-gamma-hydroxybutyramide (CHBA) was found to give a strong, solid gel when mixed in the ratio of 1.5 percent to the weight of the fuel. Laboratory scale impact tests in the presence of an open flame were made of several types of gels. The CHBA gave the best results and reduced the amount of flame generated by 85.2 percent as compared to ungelled fuel. Flame propagation rate on the surface of the gel was less by 96.7 percent. This gel is easily liquefied by heating it to 130F. Chemical and physical tests of the CHBA liquefied gel indicate that it meets turbine engine fuel requirements in all respects except freezing point, which is necessarily high because of the solid nature of the gel. Five gallons of liquefied CHBA gel were burned in a 0.75 gallon per hour standard commercial oil burner having a nozzle with a 60 degree cone orifice. Ignition was instantaneous and the material was visually observed to burn with a smooth, steady flame without leaving deposits or causing corrosion. In a separate test, the solid gel itself was pumped to the nozzle with a gear pump. It burned in the same manner as the liquefied gel. (Author)