Fuel Deoxygenation and Aircraft Thermal Management

Phyre Technologies, Inc., under Phase I and Phase II Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) programs, has developed a proprietary and unique deoxygenation system which is capable of reducing the dissolved oxygen levels in aviation fuel to 1 ppm or below. This technological breakthrough is expected to allow the development of compact, lightweight and highly efficient fuel deoxygenation systems that can substantially increase the thermal stability of military and commercial aviation jet fuels including diesel and kerosenebased fuels that are used in ground-based turbine-powered generators. In addition to the deoxygenation of fuel, this system is also capable of deoxygenating fuel tank ullage space gas – thereby operating both as a fuel deoxygenator and a more environmentally friendly alternative to conventional OBIGGS. In this paper the overall design of the equipment, operating conditions and results of initial testing of jet and diesel fuels will be discussed.