Fuel

[Qutch]

I find it interesting that they are suggesting adding sulfur to fuel to help the environment. The sulfur content of diesel fuel has been regulated down to 15ppm (historically the sulfur content has been in the 3000-5000ppm range) in an effort to reduce emissions. I am also fairly confident that metallic particles will not be added any time soon. I do engineering work on fuel systems for a major diesel engine manufacturer, and metallic debris is something that would cause serious issues. I have been working with some of our engines that are used by the military and they are tested with both Jet A and JP-8. Adding metallic particles to these fuels would wreak havoc on the fuel systems I work on, and the higher tech common rail systems only get more sensitive to debris.

Thanks for looking at the Patent.

It was my understanding that even sulpher would decrease engine life. So I'm puzzled as to how they plan to sell this concept or the patents to aircraft and engine makers (and fuel suppliers), or if they just hope to mandate it (like ethanol), "for the good of everyone." Any increase in maintenance costs will just be built into the pax tickets, or subsidized by the Gov't in exchange for distributing the chemical into the atmosphere.

As far as the metallic particles, it is my understanding that these would be nano-particle in size. So is a nano-particle of metal going to flow through the engine without damaging it? Don't know. Below is a drawing of a metallic disk similar to a nano-disk made (or is proposed for) manufacture by a Canadian scientist. The theory is, once these particles are released at high altitude, in the contrail, the sunlight causes them to self-levitate (photophoretic levitation) to some degree, keeping them suspended at upper altitudes longer. (aluminum on top, barium titanate below) They are 4 times more effective at reflecting sunlight than sulpher, which is why they are being proposed in some Patent Applications. (Hughes Aircraft bought at least one of these reflective chemical patents I think - what their interest is, I don't know for sure)

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If you get any more insight into this, PM me please. Thanks again.
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