Spectrophotometric studies of storage stability of jet fuel

Abstract Accelerated oxidation tests, using a modification of the ASTM D 2274 testing method, were carried out on a commercially available jet fuel of ASTM type A1. The extent of degradation was followed spectrophotometrically using fresh fuel as reference. It was established that this analytical method can be used to determine the amount of soluble gum in the fuel with a detection limit of 6 mg gum per litre of fuel. The activation enthalpy of gum formation was determined to be 90.8 ± 0.4 kJ mole−1, and the activation enthalpy of the antioxidant consumption was 133.1 ± 0.4 kJ mole−1.