Jul 09, 2008

More than 100 participants attended the meetings of ASTM Subcommittee D02.J on Aviation Fuels held June 3-5, 2008, in Warsaw, Poland. The subcommittee is part of ASTM International Committee D02 on Petroleum Products and Lubricants.

Participating in the Warsaw event were representatives from the Air Transport Association (ATA), the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and 10 airlines, as well as a large number of major petroleum refiners, eight original equipment manufacturers and several airworthiness authorities.

Recognized and used worldwide, the standards produced by ASTM Subcommittee D02.J include specifications, test methods and practices to help ensure that aviation fuels are fit and remain clean and dry prior to use. The focus of the meeting was aviation turbine fuels and aviation gasoline, with strong interest in the approval of biomass produced fuels, which would help to reduce key greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide (CO₂).

Various D02.J task groups met during the three-day meeting, where discussions included the acceptance of ethyl tert-butyl ether (ETBE) for blending with aviation gasoline. ETBE is commonly used as an oxygenate gasoline additive in the production of gasoline from crude oil. Other items addressed at the meeting were:

Aviation-turbine fuels-synthesized paraffinic kerosine (SPK) and fully synthetic jet fuel (FSJF);

An approval process for additives and new aviation fuel will be balloted to replace current wording in ASTM D4054, Standard Practice for Evaluating the Compatibility of Additives with Aviation-Turbine Fuels and Aircraft Fuel System Materials; and

Emerging fuels-alternative turbine fuels; semi-synthetic and fully synthetic hydrocarbon fuels; hydrogenated fats and oil (HFO); full range synthetics that include the aromatics; and a Task Force on Synthetic Hydrocarbons is working on a new synthetic fuel specification.

Also at the Warsaw meeting, Dr. Cliff Moses, consultant, made a key presentation on the status of the research report on FT SPKs as blend stocks, which included what has been done and illustrating what is necessary. In addition, ASTM International held its Technical and Professional Training Course titled "Aviation Fuels: Specifications and Test Methods."

Click here for a more detailed report of the D02.J meeting.  For more detailed information on the discussions held at the D02.J meeting, contact Stanford Seto, Belcan Corp., Cincinnati, Ohio (phone: 513-985-7530; stan.seto@belcan.com). For committee and membership information, contact David Bradley, Technical Committee Operations, ASTM International (phone: 610-832-9681; dbradley@astm.org). For more information about ASTM International Committee D02, visit www.astm.org/COMMIT/D02.htm.

Release #7997