Date of Award

1995

Degree Name

M.S. in Mechanical Engineering

Department

Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Abstract

Military and commercial aircraft use jet fuel as a heat sink to cool various engine and airframe components. As the fuel is thermally stressed, it forms deposits which can obstruct the flow of the fuel. Deposition occurs in devices vital to aircraft operation such as fuel injectors, spray bars, augmentors, and actuators. The replacement or repair of these fouled components is very costly and, if ignored, can be destructive to the fuel system. To avoid the buildup of deposits, the removal of dissolved oxygen from the fuel is desirable since previous experimentation has shown that dissolved oxygen is responsible for the initiation of deposits. For some time, ultrasound has been used to remove dissolved gases from certain fluids. Here ultrasound is uniquely applied to remove dissolved oxygen from jet fuel. In this work, fuel flow rate, pressure, temperature, surface tension, and applied ultrasonic energy was varied in both static and flowing reactors to determine optimum degassing conditions. Degassing conditions were found which permitted degassing at high fuel flow rates. The ultrasound amplitude and frequency were also studied in an attempt to further increase cavitation. The results suggest that ultrasound has potential for implementation in an aircraft.

Keywords

Jet planes Fuel, Sedimentation and deposition

Rights Statement

Copyright © 1995, author

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