SBIR-STTR Award

Fit for purpose fuels are an absolute requirement for successful military operations. Poor physical performance or contaminated fuels can result in the inability to fulfill critical military missions. Monitoring fuel quality to determine the success of hydrant system flushing, or other processes intended to displace contaminants is key to insuring in specification fuel is delivered to the aircraft for the US Air Force and other military fuel users. An instrument is required which can monitor fuel quality across a range of parameters in real time as a hydrant system is flushed. Measurement of fuel quality in real time minimizes the flushing time and hence the amount of fuel used, significantly reducing the time and cost of hydrant flushing. The ability to make rapid, high quality, in-line performance assessments continuously and at any point along the military fuel delivery system can have significant value not only to fixed hydrant installations, but also in temporary fuel storage and deliver operations. Although the topic refers to continuous monitoring during flushing operations, the solutions provided in this topic can be applied across the fuel delivery system to insure fit for purpose fuel delivery.

Keywords:
Jet Fuel, JP8, contamination, particulate, Free Water, conductivity, Continuous monitoring