PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - Typical Fast Jet Fuel system?
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Old 30th Aug 2005, 10:16
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Background Noise
 
Join Date: Jul 2000
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I think we are all getting confused here by different pressures.

V2, 'jet' engines burn stuff like paraffin - it is not flammable at room temp like petrol and you have to squeeze it at very high pressure through small orifices in the combustion chamber so that it atomises and then it will burn. That bit, from the high pressure (HP) fuel pump to the combustion chamber will work any way up at whatever g.

What I think you're after is how it gets from the tanks to the engine. In many of the manoeuvres you mention, the aircraft is still experiencing positive g - even upside down, like looping in a roller coaster. Even the other manoeuvres, if flown in balance, will not slosh the fuel around as much as in a race car. The problem comes with negative g. In aircraft likely to get thrown around, the tanks are compartmentalised. The tank which fuel is finally drawn from is called the collector tank. That is (usually) kept full by transfer from the other tank sections - this can be by gravity, pressure or by pumps. If the collector tank stays full then fuel can be pumped to the engine at any attitude. The collector contents could fall if transfer fails from the other sections - this could be due to loss of transfer pressure or even the fuel quantity becoming low (ie less than collector tank volume) - in this case the drill would be to avoid negative g so that fuel can still be drawn from the bottom of the collector tank. Even then, some systems have double entry pumps in the collector tank so that if the fuel is at the bottom (positive g) the bottom feed takes the fuel, if the fuel is at the top of the tank (negative g) the top end feeds. Also prolonged negative g may affect fuel transfer to the collector tank and this can be why some aircraft have negative g time limits (as well as other considerations like engine oil).
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