Water in Jet Fuel
It is very important that jet fuel be free from water contamination. During flight, the temperature of the fuel in the tanks decreases, due to the low temperatures in the upper atmosphere. This causes precipitation of the dissolved water from the fuel. The separated water then drops to the bottom of the tank, because it is denser than the fuel. From this time on, as the water is no longer in solution, it can freeze, blocking fuel inlet pipes. This was the cause of the British Airways Flight 38 accident. Removing all water from fuel is impractical, therefore fuel heaters are usually used on commercial aircraft to prevent water in fuel from freezing.
There are several methods for detecting water in jet fuel. A visual check may detect high concentrations of suspended water, as this will cause the fuel to become hazy in appearance. An industry standard chemical test for the detection of free water in jet fuel uses a water-sensitive filter pad that turns green if the fuel exceeds the specification limit of 30ppm (parts per million) free water.
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