ACTIVITY GUIDE

SUBJECT CODE AMT 213 (online class) WEEK NUMBER 1

SUBJECT TITLE Aircraft Fuels & Lubrication Systems
CHAPTER TOPIC Introduction to Aircraft Fuels
DATE GIVEN 22 August 2022 DEADLINE 22 Aug 2022 (10:00 am) INSTRUCTOR Mr. E. Aserios

LESSON
Introduction to Aircraft Fuels

What is fuel?
It is a material that can be made to react with other substances so that it releases energy
as heat energy or to be used for work.

What role does the fuel have on an aircraft engine?

It helps transform from heat energy to mechanical energy or a high velocity escaping
hot expanded gas producing thrust.

How is it achieved?
To produce heat energy, a burning or combustion needs to happen. To achieve this,
three elements are needed; oxygen or O2 (present in air), heat (provided by an igniter),
and fuel (combustible materials). Fuel comes in many forms; candle for lighting,
firewood for cooking, coal to heat water for steam engine. Once these three elements
are mixed together, burning happens producing heat energy.

Did you know….

Aerospace vehicles have two common types of engine based on how oxygen is
obtained; air-breathing and non-air-breathing. Reciprocating and turbine engines are
air-breathing….the oxygen is taken from the air it operates on that is why it has an air
inlet. A rocket engine is a non-air-breathing engine where it commonly operates in
space where there is no oxygen. The fuel it needs (in liquid or solid form or a
combination of both forms) is carried internally in a storage tank, that is why you won’t
see air inlets on rockets.

What is heat energy?

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 Once when burning happens, the temperature rises and molecules tends to move faster
and further apart elevating the temperature even higher and causing the volume it
occupies to expand. This behavior can be manifested on metals sensitive to heat….its
size expands under high temperature and contracts under low temperature. One
example of an aircraft is the SR-71 Blackbird that can travel at a speed of up to Mach 3,
predecessor of the rumored Mach 5 SR-91 Aurora similar to but twice faster Mach 10
Darkstar depicted in Top gun Maverick movie. At
this speed, aerodynamic heating caused by air
friction is great that an ordinary metal would soften
up or even melt. This plane uses titanium skin which
is known for its high resistance to high temperature,
yet at its maximum speed its skin expands and it
contracts back when it lands leaving gaps between
joints and causing fuel to leak.

Transformation to mechanical energy.

This is where the fuel plays its role….

On reciprocating engines
When this expanded gas is kept on an enclosed vessel, it exerts pressure on its walls.
On a combustion chamber, one side of this enclosed section is the surface of the piston
head. Being a moving part, the force from the pressure pushes the piston down. Due to
the arrangement of a cam shaft, the piston moves back up compressing a fresh supply
of O2 ready to be burned for another combustion. Thus repeated this cycle becomes a
mechanical energy rotating a shaft where the propeller is attached.

Turbine engines
The manner in which the expanded gases is utilized is similar to the operating principle
of rocket. On an enclosed vessel, the expanded gases escapes through an opening
(nozzle). This rushing gases produces thrust, based from the Newton’s 3rd Law of
Motion….”for every action, there is always an equal and opposite reaction.” In turbine
engine, air is compressed at the convergent section increasing its velocity upon entering
the combustion chamber then burned to further increase its velocity turning the
turbine and escaping through the exhaust producing thrust.

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ACTIVITY 1
Introduction to Aircraft Fuels

Perform the following task;

1. What tends to cause the burnt gas to expand?

2. Is it safe to conduct a welding repair on a fuel tank with still a trace of fuel fume? For what reason?
3. If a hangar where an aircraft is stored and there is a trace of gas fume, would an accidental burning
be prevented if doors and windows are closed to prevent air from coming in? State why.
4. What causes the piston to move down the cylinder?
5. Would the piston still move down if there are no piston rings? Support your answer.
6. Why piston driven aircrafts don’t fly higher than a turbine-driven aircraft.
7. Why can’t turbine-driven aircraft fly on space?
8. Can fire still happen inside a space station? Explain why.
9. How does the manner in which the burnt fuel is utilized on a reciprocating engine differ from that
of the turbine engine?
10. How does a heat energy being converted into a mechanical energy in a reciprocating engine?

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