Effect of fuel type on the performance of an aircraft fuel tank oxygen-consuming inerting system

The properties of aviation fuel have a great influence on the performance of oxygenconsuming inerting systems. Based on the establishment of the catalytic inerting process, the flow relationship of each gas component flowing through the catalytic reactor was derived. The mathematical model of the gas concentration in the gas phase of the fuel tank was established based on the mass conservation equation, and the fuel tank model was verified by performing experiments.The results showed that the fuel type exerts a considerably higher influence on the performance of the oxygen-consuming inerting system compared to the corresponding influence on the hollow fiber membrane system, and the relative magnitude of the inerting rates of the four fuel types is RP5 > RP3 > RP6 > JP8. In addition, a higher catalytic efficiency or fuel load rate corresponds to a higher rate of decrease of the oxygen concentration in the gas phase, and the inerting time is inversely proportional to the suction flow rate of the fan. When different fuels are used, the amount of cooling gas and water released from the inerting system are different. Therefore, the influence of fuel type on the system performance should be extensively considered in the future.