If they had only added Poly Iso Butylene to the fuel there would be no need to have some device added to the engine. Poly Iso Butylene mixes completely in hydrocarbon fuel. I used it in my car, the US Navy used it in their Diesel engines and Garrett AiResearch used in their jet engines.
Regarding the mentioning of the additive it was mentioned on one TV bit that I saw. I have seen this same crash demonstrated on many different TV segments and the only one that mentioned the additive was the one referenced above.
Is it possible that there was no device added to the engine?
It would seem that the additive described in the original posts would get thicker due to cold soaking at high altitude and would not flow freely to the engines making it difficult to pass through the degrading device and thus cause fuel starvation. Just a thought.
NASA has tried other developmental tests with out complete investigations into the ramifications of unseen problems.
One other thought. If the material was stripped out of the fuel what happened to it. Was it recirculated back into the tanks where it would serve to increase the viscosity of the fuel making it increasingly difficult to flow to the engines? Or, was it dumped overboard. It makes one think if the test were a valid demonstration of a commercial aircraft in revenue service.
------------------
The Cat
[This message has been edited by Lu Zuckerman (edited 10 November 2000).]