The collection of ice in jet A-1 fuel pipes
Creators: name: Maloney, Thomas C.
Publisher: name: No Publisher Supplied
Year: 2012

description: Ice collection and blockages in fuel systems have been of interest to the aerospace community since their discovery in the late 1950's when a B-52 crashed. A recent growth of interest was provoked by several incidents that occurred within the last few years. This study seeks to understand the underlying principles of ice growth in fuel flow systems.  Tests were performed in a recirculated fuel system with a fuel tank that held approximately 115 gallons of Jet A-1 fuel and ice accumulation was observed in two removable test pipes. The setup was in an altitude chamber capable of -60 °F and the experiments involved full scale flow components.  Initially, tests were done to better understand the system and variables that effected accumulation. First, initial conditions within the test pipes were varied. Next, pipe geometry, pipe surface properties, initial water content of the fuel and heat transfer from the fuel pipe were varied. As a result of the tests, observations were made about other effects involved in the study. The effects include: the result of sequentially run tests, the effect of the fuel on the freezing temperature of the entrained water, the effect of ice accumulation on pipe welds, and the effect of the test pipe entrance and exit flow conditions on ice accumulation. The results of initial tests were qualitative.  Later quantitative tests were done to demonstrate the dependence of temperature, Reynolds number, and heat transfer on ice accumulation. Tests were quantified with a pressure increase across the pipe sections that was normalized by the expected theoretical initial pressure. As a result of these tests the effect of contamination in the fuel was revealed.  For ease of reference, the initial tests were called “stage I” and the later tests were called “stage II”.  The results of stage I showed that accumulation of soft ice was greatest when a layer of hard ice had initially formed on the pipe surface. Stainless steel collected more ice than Teflon and there was a lack of a preferential accumulation region downstream of a pipe bend. A greater heat transfer from the pipe increased ice accumulation for aluminum that was made rough with 80 grit sand paper, and for Teflon. Water was shown to collect in the pipe system as the number of tests increased and the freeze temperature of either the hard or soft ice was about 0 °C. Finally, results of “stage I” tests showed that stainless steel pipe welds were a preferred sight for ice to accumulate.  Repeatability was done first in stage II and the normalized pressure increase for two 3/4" un-insulated pipe tests were within &amp;%. Normalized pressure increase across a pipe was shown to increase as Reynolds number decreased. A 50% increase in Reynolds number led to a 40% decrease in characteristic normalized pressure increase (CNPI). Tests were done at three temperatures and ice accumulated the most at -11 °C. The CNPI at -11 °C was about three times greater than the CNPI at -&amp;.4 °C and about sixty times greater than the CNPI at -19.4 °C.  A greater heat transfer from the fuel pipe increased ice accumulation. For the amount of time that the tests ran, the total normalized pressure increase was about .9 greater for an un-insulated pipe than for an insulated pipe.  Contamination in the fuel increased the amount of soft ice that collected in the system. The CNPI for the more contaminated fuel was more than double the case with less contaminated fuel.  Possible solutions for the prevention or decrease of ice accumulation in aircraft fuel systems based on the results of this study are insulated pipes, a change in the type of pipe material, a higher fuel flow rate and cleaner fuel. The fuel temperature could also be altered to avoid temperatures where the most ice accumulates.