Development of a Method for the Quantification of Aviation Fuel Penetration

Michael Balagula, IDF, IAF, Tel Aviv, Israel (michailbalagula@gmail.com)
Yuval Tal, Idf, Iaf, Tel Aviv, Israel
Yalfal Syum, Idf, Iaf, Tel Aviv, Israel
Moshe Rabaev, Idf, Iaf, Tel Aviv, Israel
Adva Zahavi Cohen, Idf, Iaf, Tel Aviv, Israel

Israeli Air Force uses different types of fuels. Sometimes due to different circumstances, penetration of fuels occurs. It is crucial to find out the amount of penetrated fuel to prevent the malfunction of the plane, whether being long-term or an immediate damage. Since the composition of aviation fuel changes all the time, there is difficulty in developing a quantitative method for fuel penetration. In the first step, our method differentiates between the types of fuels by diagnosing the shape of the chromatogram on a GC-MS device. Then it quantifies the fuel that has penetrated. Either by creating a calibration curve from the two fuels or in case it is not possible by using ratios within the sample's chromatogram.