Technical Paper
Jet Fuel Low Temperature Operability
2002-05-06
2002-01-1650
Jet-A and Jet-A-1 have fueled commercial and military jets for decades. With -40°C and -47°C freeze point specifications respectively, Jet-A and Jet-A-1 have adequate low temperature operability for the current demands of jet-powered planes. However next generation military and commercial jet aircraft will need fuels with improved low temperature performance to reap the benefits of flying higher, longer and taking polar routes. The extreme cold these new routes will expose jet fuel to makes it necessary to have fuel that flows at much lower temperatures than is currently available. Changing the jet fuel refining conditions can achieve the desired low temperature characteristics however this is very expensive.