What do the planes run? Kinds of fuel

Not everyone knows what the aircraft are running. For uninterrupted and good operation of such units requires special fuel of the highest quality. The level of flight depends largely on what was filled in the aircraft. It should be noted that the cost of aviation fuel has increased many-fold due to a shortage of oil. At the moment, new compounds are being developed. So what do the planes do? What fuel is used for this?

Varieties of fuel for aircraft

So, what do the planes run? At the moment there are only a few types of fuel for such equipment:

• Fuel for piston engines;
• The jet fuel intended for turbojet models.

Each species is developed for certain types of aircraft. Replacement of fuel for another type is very dangerous. After all, the fuel depends on the safety of all who will be on board the aircraft. It is for this reason that the refueling of the units is given special attention. What is the difference between jet fuel and aviation gasoline?

Aviation fuel

Now you know what the planes are running. The types of fuel for this technology have certain qualities and properties. What are the differences? Aviation fuel, or, in another way, aviation gasoline, recently ceased to be used as fuel. Now it is used as a solvent. Not so long ago on such fuel TU-22 and TU-16 flew.

They also received aviation fuel in several ways of oil refining : by distillation or catalytic cracking.

Features of aviation fuel

Aviation gasoline was previously considered a quality fuel. Why? There are several reasons for this:

1. Detonation resistance. In other words, such fuel can be used in engines equipped with a high level of compression of the combustible mixture. In this case, the appearance of detonation combustion is excluded.
2. Fractional composition. Aviation gasoline is able to evaporate. This indicates its ability to form air-fuel, working mixtures. This feature is determined by the saturated vapor pressure and the boiling point.
3. Chemical stability. Aviation fuel is able to withstand the chemical effects of certain components during use, transportation and so on.

As you can see, aviation gasoline has many advantages. However, it has not been used for a long time as a fuel. So what do airplanes do, if aviation gasoline is not used for these purposes?

Aviation kerosene

What fuel is fueled by airplanes that transport passengers and military personnel? In such situations aviation kerosene is used - this is one of the oil fractions, obtained by direct distillation of sulfur and low-sulfur varieties of oil. In this case, the hydrotreating method is widely used. In such fuel additives are often added.

It is worth noting that aviation kerosene passes through 8 stages of check before entering the tank of the aircraft. In addition, in our country, the military controls the quality of fuel. The cost of one ton of fuel is 20-35 thousand rubles.

Types of aviation kerosene

Aviation kerosene has many features. This is acidity, and sulfur, and thermal stability. At the moment, our country uses several of its varieties:

1. RT is a fuel of very high quality. This is explained by the oil fraction. Here it is 135-280 ° C and undergoes full hydrotreatment. It is worth noting that such fuel has no analogues even among the western varieties of fuel. RT is usually used for refueling SU-27 and so on.
2. TC-1 - this fuel for aircraft is a mixture of directly purified and straight-run fractions. This fuel corresponds to Jet-A - a foreign analog. In our country this is the most popular type of aviation kerosene. They are fueled by modern and old aircraft equipped with subsonic, turbojet and turboprop engines.
3. T-6 and T-8B - fuel, which is produced exclusively for the needs of the military. They are filled with supersonic fighters MiG-35. Such fuel is obtained as a result of long-term oil refining, which makes their cost very high.

In winter, additional additives are added to the fuel, which do not allow the fuel to change its physical properties during use.

How many tanks do airplanes have?

Before answering the question about how and how much fuel is fueled into the aircraft, it is worthwhile to find out how many tanks there are in the unit. In different models of technology they are located almost in the same places: at the wings and in the center. At the same time, fuel is expended from each container for specific needs. Fuel from the central tank is designed for stable engine operation. Some aircraft have additional capacity in the tail area. Such a tank is necessary for adjusting the alignment of the unit during the flight.

Refueling process

The process of refilling an airplane is a complex procedure that is carried out at the airport by a group of people. For this purpose, a special technique is used. In this case, the procedure is under the control of the operator of the filling station. It is worth noting that the fuel is being thoroughly tested. How many aircraft are running? It all depends on the variety of technique. To fuel "Boeing" requires about 15 tons of fuel, and for "Airbus" - 15-25 tons.