Experimental Study on RP-3 Aviation Fuel Tank Using Oxygen-Consuming Inerting Technology
Publication: Journal of Aerospace Engineering
Volume 35, Issue 1
Abstract
Oxygen-consuming fuel tank inerting technology is a novel technology with a simple structure and a high efficiency for tank explosion suppression based on flameless catalytic combustion. To verify the feasibility of the oxygen-consuming inerting system for RP-3 aviation fuel tanks, a test bench was constructed based on a self-developed catalyst, and the system performance was studied on the ground. The results showed that both the oxygen volume fraction in the fuel tank and the mixed inert gas decreased gradually with time, and the oxygen volume fraction in the tank dropped to 12% and 9% after 11.3 and 15.3 min, respectively, which demonstrated that the oxygen-consuming inerting system for RP-3 fuel tanks was successful. In addition, the influence of key parameters on the system performance was also analyzed. The results indicated that the higher the fan flow, inlet gas temperature, and fuel temperature, the faster the oxygen volume fraction decreased. In addition, the formation of CO, NO, and was also observed during the experiment. The research results can be used as references for the application of oxygen-consuming inerting systems for RP-3 aviation fuel tanks.
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Data Availability Statement
Some or all data, models, or code that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China Civil Aviation Joint Fund (No. U1933121), the Interdisciplinary Innovation Foundation for Graduates, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics (NUAA) (No. KXKCXJJ202004), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, and the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions.
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Published In
Journal of Aerospace Engineering
Volume 35 • Issue 1 • January 2022
Copyright
© 2021 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: May 10, 2021
Accepted: Sep 17, 2021
Published online: Oct 28, 2021
Published in print: Jan 1, 2022
Discussion open until: Mar 28, 2022
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