I have searched the forum for info on the use of jet fuel in diesel engines. Is there any definitive info on its use and the need to mix it with diesel or oil to increase its lubrication and prevent engine damage? Thanks.

 

search the IDI forum also, I think it came up a couple moths ago there.

 

Jet fuel is highly refined kerosene. As such it will run in a diesel with no problem BUT it has no intrinsic lubricity, like #2 diesel has, so it is essential to us an additive.
A good additive would be Biodiesel.

Don't use #2 as an additive because all you can get these days is that ULSD stuff and it also needs an additive to boost lubricity.

 

Florida- I've used JP-5 before, but usually I only put 4-5 gallons at a time into about 25 gallons of #2. Haven't done it much, but no adverse effects. Where are you gonna get it from?

 

Mongo75 - I work at a turbine engine overhaul repair station and have access to Jet A. Every engine has be run in the test cell to verify that its performance is within set parameters prior to sending it back to the customer. We have a good bit left over every month that I could make use of, but I don't want to ruin my engine either. I'll have to do more research.

 

F250

Like I told you before Jet Fuel is basically highly refined diesel so it should not cause any problems except for the lubricity factor.

Here is why:

Diesel is about 75% long chain saturated hydrocarbon ranging from 10 to 15 carbons in length. There are also other hydrocarbons present (about 25%)that do not fit the description above but have a similar boiling temps. It also contains some contaminants the most significant of which is sulfur.
Sulfer is a mixed bag, it is beneficial in that it provides the lubricity many diesel engines rely on but it also can be corrosive and attack delicate metal parts.

Kerosene is made up of long chain hydrocarbons 12 to 15 carbons in length (look familiar), it also contains some of the other hydrocarbons. It is processed in various ways to remove the sulfur.

Jet fuel composition depends on which version of fuel you are using; however all begin with kerosene. I suppose it would be prudent to find out which Jet Fuel you are using, each has it's own characteristics and additives. Some have higher flsh points, some have deicing agents, and one even has gasoline mixed in.

Good luck

 

When I was a kid, (mid 1960's) my dad worked for United Air Lines as a mechanic. He would fuel the Mercedes 190D car we had with jet fuel from the airport, something about draining sediment traps, and not allowed to return the fuel to the plane. My mom had to go to DMV every year and explain why we have not paid road taxes the previous year, and I think they came up with a per mileage charge, to keep things legal.

 

We have been using JP8 in the Marine Corps for some time now.
I can tell you that the HMMWV 6.2L diesel had some problems at first with rubber swelling up the new 6.5 none so far.
We were having problems with engineer equipment injector pumps locking up in Iraq so we started adding Dextron in with the fuel we left soon after so I don’t know the long-term affects were but short term it was working.

 

JP8 is a jet fuel, made specifically for the U.S. government. It is kerosene-based. It is a replacement for JP-4l; the U.S. Air Force replaced JP-4 with JP-8 in order to use less flammable, less hazardous fuel for better safety and combat survivability. U.S. Navy uses a similar formula to JP-8, JP-5 it is even less flammable and is meant for use onboard carriers. I would bet that JP5 and JP8 are interchangable.

JP4 was very flammable because it was essentially a mix of equal parts kerosene and gasoline. The less flammable fuels have not only removed the gasoline component but have removed some of the inherently more volitile components of kerosene such as benzene and hexane. Note these two were also health problems: benzene is a carcinogen and hexane is a neuro toxin.

 

Not entirely correct. The other way around the US was the only one using JP-4. I was in the USAF for 20 years. The first 4 was in Fuels. Refuled Aircraft all day.

Then I moved to Aircraft maint. Worked on KC-10 Aircraft. One big gas station in the sky.

Anyway every time we went over seas we always got either JP-5 or JP-8 Mostly JP-5. It was a pain since we had to use a whole different fuel weight calculation when we got JP-5 I think the US military switched to JP-5 due to the rest of the world using it. It's also used in most Air Ground equipment (AGE) equipment on the flight line and often in diesel hummers.

JP-8 was almost never used in the states except for the SR-71, which required it.

When I moved into computers in 1994 they were still using JP-4 at McGuire AFB in NJ. Lost track since I got out in 2000

Erick

 

This is what I got from the Wikipedia.


Militaries around the world use a different classification system of JP numbers. Some are almost identical to their civilian counterparts and differ only by the amounts of a few additives; JET A-1 is similar to JP-8, JET B is similar to JP-4. Other military fuels are highly specialized products and are developed for very specific applications. JP-5 fuel is fairly common, and was introduced to reduce the risk of fire on aircraft carriers. Other fuels were specific to one type of aircraft. JP-6 was developed specifically for the XB-70 Valkyrie and JP-7 for the SR-71 Blackbird. Both these fuels were engineered to have a high flash point to better cope with the heat and stresses of high speed supersonic flight. One aircraft-specific jet fuel still in use by the United States Air Force is JPTS, which was developed in 1956 for the Lockheed U-2 spy plane.

Jet fuels are sometimes classified as kerosene or naphtha-type. Kerosene-type fuels include Jet A, Jet A1, JP-5 and JP-8. Naphtha-type jets fuels include Jet B and JP-4

 

I forgot all about JP-7. Thanks I got that wrong.

Erick

 

leskwvo
I dont know when you were in the USAF but I was there from 1960 to 1980. When I first enlisted we were using JP4 in things like F86, F89, F101, etc.

I dont know when the switch to JP8 came because I was no longer in the airplane business, switched to Minuteman Missiles, in fact I wasn't even aware they had switched until I started researching this topic.
I did know that JP5 was developed for the Navy because my brother was a Storekeeper (navy talk for a supply guy) onboard an oiler and he told be they didn't use JP4, because of its flammability, they used JP5 instead. I also knew about JP7 for the SR-71 cause I was stationed at Kadena for a while and knew some guys that worked on them.

 

Phydeaux, you brought back some memories- when I was stationed at Futenma, we used to go over to the Banyan Tree club on Kadena. The Air Force had the best looking girls, and more of them (didn't matter I was married) but we loved the path that the junior USAF guys would open for us!!! Many a fun times there....

 

1980 to 2000

I few year ahead of you.

First jet I refueled was a F106

Erick