Thesis
Identification and quantification of trace oxygenated compounds in alternative jet fuels
Washington State University
Master of Science (MS), Washington State University
2018
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/102743
Abstract
In modern society, air transport is a part of everyday life. The study of alternative jet fuel is motivated by the need to reduce the environmental impact of the aviation industry. The final step in all the pathways for the production of alternative jet fuels is the removal of oxygen via hydrotreatment. If not properly conducted, some trace oxygenated compounds may remain in the fuel. Thus, a major challenge of using biofuels in a commercial aircraft is ensuring low levels of oxygenated compounds which are known to be responsible for reduced thermal stability. Methods available in the literature for the isolation and characterization of oxygenated compounds in jet fuel are reviewed. Most of the methods reported are based on the concentration of trace oxygenated compounds in a polar adsorbent by solid phase extraction (SPE) followed by the solubilization in a polar solvent and the quantification of targeted polar compounds by GC/MS. Phenols are the most common trace oxygenated compounds found in aviation fuels. Our results, using phenolic model compounds added to jet fuel confirm that the SPE removal and GC/MS quantification steps are done quantitatively. A new method based on the analysis of SPE extracted phenolic compounds by UV-fluorescence was developed. This method is much faster to identify the presence of phenols but does not allow to quantify them and still requires SPE. In order to avoid the extraction step, fluorescence quenching with Rhodamine-B in jet fuel was studied. Rhodamine-B in Jet fuel shows fluorescence quenching in the presence of phenols. A new experimental approach based on the direct addition of Rhodamine-B to jet fuel and the use of fluorescence quenching for the fast identification of phenols at operational field conditions is proposed. However, it has also limitations due to complex matrix of each jet fuels and the impact of the matrix on Rhodamine B fluorescence. To address this issue a new method that removes oxygenated compounds for alternative jet fuels by SPE and that compares the Rhodamine-B spectra before and after SPE was developed.
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Details
- Title
- Identification and quantification of trace oxygenated compounds in alternative jet fuels
- Creators
- Kalidas Mainali
- Contributors
- Manuel Garcia-Perez (Degree Supervisor)
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- Biological Systems Engineering, Department of
- Theses and Dissertations
- Master of Science (MS), Washington State University
- Publisher
- Washington State University; [Pullman, Washington] :
- Identifiers
- 99900525123001842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Thesis