Status of Research on Antimist Aircraft Turbine Engine Fuels in the United States

Abstract : Research being conducted by the U.S. Army, Air Force, Navy, and the Federal Aviation Administration (and the U.K. Royal Aircraft Establishment) has been directed toward establishing the physical, compatibility, and fire-safety characteristics of fuel blends containing polymeric antimist agents. This antimist additive approach has been shown to be both feasible and potentially practical for substantially reducing the frequency of in-flight and post-crash aircraft fires. This paper describes the experimental bench (and larger-scale) evaluation procedures that are being used in the antimist fuel studies, and reviews the experimental results obtained by various U.S. organizations, using several different polymeric antimist additives.