JP-8, or JP8 (for "Jet Propellant 8") is a

jet fuel Jet fuel or aviation turbine fuel (ATF, also abbreviated avtur) is a type of aviation fuel designed for use in aircraft powered by gas-turbine engines. It is colorless to straw-colored in appearance. The most commonly used fuels for commercial a ...

, specified and used widely by the US military. It is specified by MIL-DTL-83133 and British Defence Standard 91-87, and similar to commercial aviation's

Jet A-1 Jet fuel or aviation turbine fuel (ATF, also abbreviated avtur) is a type of aviation fuel designed for use in aircraft powered by gas-turbine engines. It is colorless to straw-colored in appearance. The most commonly used fuels for commercial av ...

, but with the addition of corrosion inhibitor and anti-icing additives. A

kerosene Kerosene, paraffin, or lamp oil is a combustible hydrocarbon liquid which is derived from petroleum. It is widely used as a fuel in aviation as well as households. Its name derives from el, κηρός (''keros'') meaning "wax", and was regi ...

-based fuel, JP-8 is projected to remain in use at least until 2025. It was first introduced at

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

bases in 1978. Its NATO code is F-34''.

Usage

It was specified in 1990 by the U.S. government as a replacement for government

diesel Diesel may refer to: * Diesel engine, an internal combustion engine where ignition is caused by compression * Diesel fuel, a liquid fuel used in diesel engines * Diesel locomotive, a railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engin ...

fueled vehicles. The

U.S. Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Sign ...

replaced JP-4 with JP-8 completely by the end of 1995, to use a less flammable, less hazardous fuel for better safety and combat survivability. The

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...

uses a similar formula,

JP-5 Jet fuel or aviation turbine fuel (ATF, also abbreviated avtur) is a type of aviation fuel designed for use in aircraft powered by gas-turbine engines. It is colorless to straw-colored in appearance. The most commonly used fuels for commercial av ...

. JP-5 has an even higher flash point of > 140 °F (60 °C), but also a higher cost, though the U.S. Navy Seabees still use JP-8 in their construction and tactical equipment. In addition to its use for powering aircraft, JP-8 is used as a fuel for

heater Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) is the use of various technologies to control the temperature, humidity, and purity of the air in an enclosed space. Its goal is to provide thermal comfort and acceptable indoor air quality. ...

stove A stove or range is a device that burns fuel or uses electricity to generate heat inside or on top of the apparatus, to be used for general warming or cooking. It has evolved highly over time, with cast-iron and induction versions being develope ...

tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engin ...

s, by the U.S. military and its NATO allies as a replacement for

diesel fuel Diesel fuel , also called diesel oil, is any liquid fuel specifically designed for use in a diesel engine, a type of internal combustion engine in which fuel ignition takes place without a spark as a result of compression of the inlet air and t ...

in the engines of nearly all tactical ground vehicles and electrical generators, and as a

coolant A coolant is a substance, typically liquid, that is used to reduce or regulate the temperature of a system. An ideal coolant has high thermal capacity, low viscosity, is low-cost, non-toxic, chemically inert and neither causes nor promotes corrosio ...

in engines and some other aircraft components. The use of a single fuel greatly simplifies logistics. JP-8 is formulated with an icing inhibitor,

corrosion inhibitor In chemistry, a corrosion inhibitor or anti-corrosive is a chemical compound that, when added to a liquid or gas, decreases the corrosion rate of a material, typically a metal or an alloy, that comes into contact with the fluid. The effectiveness ...

lubricant A lubricant (sometimes shortened to lube) is a substance that helps to reduce friction between surfaces in mutual contact, which ultimately reduces the heat generated when the surfaces move. It may also have the function of transmitting forces, t ...

s, and

antistatic agent An antistatic agent is a compound used for treatment of materials or their surfaces in order to reduce or eliminate buildup of static electricity. Static charge may be generated by the triboelectric effect or by a non-contact process using a high ...

s, and less

benzene Benzene is an organic chemical compound with the molecular formula C6H6. The benzene molecule is composed of six carbon atoms joined in a planar ring with one hydrogen atom attached to each. Because it contains only carbon and hydrogen atoms, ...

carcinogen A carcinogen is any substance, radionuclide, or radiation that promotes carcinogenesis (the formation of cancer). This may be due to the ability to damage the genome or to the disruption of cellular metabolic processes. Several radioactive subs ...

) and less ''n''-

hexane Hexane () is an organic compound, a straight-chain alkane with six carbon atoms and has the molecular formula C6H14. It is a colorless liquid, odorless when pure, and with boiling points approximately . It is widely used as a cheap, relatively ...

neurotoxin Neurotoxins are toxins that are destructive to nerve tissue (causing neurotoxicity). Neurotoxins are an extensive class of exogenous chemical neurological insultsSpencer 2000 that can adversely affect function in both developing and mature ner ...

) than JP-4. However, it also smells stronger than JP-4. JP-8 has an oily feel to the touch, while JP-4 feels more like a

solvent A solvent (s) (from the Latin '' solvō'', "loosen, untie, solve") is a substance that dissolves a solute, resulting in a solution. A solvent is usually a liquid but can also be a solid, a gas, or a supercritical fluid. Water is a solvent for ...

Problems and health concerns

When used in highly supercharged

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-call ...

s with the corresponding low compression ratio of about only 14:1 or below, JP-8 causes troubles during cold start and idling due to low compression temperatures and subsequent ignition delay because the

cetane index Cetane index is used as a substitute for the cetane number of diesel fuel. The cetane index is calculated based on the fuel's density and distillation range (ASTM D86). There are two methods used, ASTM D976 and D4737. The older D976, or "two-va ...

is not specified in MIL-DTL-83133G to 40 or higher. Because

lubricity Lubricity is the measure of the reduction in friction and/or wear by a lubricant. The study of lubrication and wear mechanisms is called tribology. Measurement of lubricity The lubricity of a substance is not a material property, and cannot be me ...

to the BOCLE method is not specified in MIL-DTL-83133G, modern common-rail diesel engines can experience wear problems in high-pressure fuel pumps and injectors. Another problem in

s can be increased wear to exhaust valve seats in the cylinder heads, because a minimum content of sulfur is not specified in MIL-DTL-83133G. Sulfur in fuel normally contributes to a build-up of soot layers on these valve seats. According to the notes in this standard, it is intended to include a

value in one of the next releases. Workers have complained of smelling and tasting JP-8 for hours after exposure. As JP-8 is less volatile than standard diesel fuel, it remains on the contaminated surfaces for longer time, increasing the risk of exposure. JP-8 exposure has also been linked to hearing problems, but rather than being unable to hear sounds, the brain has a hard time deciphering the message. Dr. O'neil Guthrie, a research scientist and clinical

audiologist Audiology (from Latin , "to hear"; and from Greek , ''-logia'') is a branch of science that studies hearing, balance, and related disorders. Audiologists treat those with hearing loss and proactively prevent related damage. By employing vario ...

with the

United States Department of Veterans Affairs The United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is a Cabinet-level executive branch department of the federal government charged with providing life-long healthcare services to eligible military veterans at the 170 VA medical centers a ...

Loma Linda Healthcare System in California, has compared the

central auditory processing disorder Auditory processing disorder (APD), rarely known as King-Kopetzky syndrome or auditory disability with normal hearing (ADN), is a neurodevelopmental disorder affecting the way the brain processes auditory information. Individuals with APD usually ...

dyslexia Dyslexia, also known until the 1960s as word blindness, is a disorder characterized by reading below the expected level for one's age. Different people are affected to different degrees. Problems may include difficulties in spelling words, r ...

for the ears. In 2001,

Texas Tech University Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas Tech University Sys ...

's Institute of Environmental and Human Health and the United States Air Force conducted an 18-month study of the health effects of JP-8 on 339 active duty personnel at six US Air Force installations. The study found that Air Force workers who were exposed to JP-8 were no more likely to seek medical attention than workers who were not exposed to JP-8 on the job. Personnel in the high- and moderate-exposure categories self-reported greater amounts of symptoms such as headaches, dizziness, difficulty breathing, general weakness, trouble concentrating, forgetfulness, and trouble gripping things.

Variants

JP-8+100 (F-37) is a version of JP-8 with an additive that increases its thermal stability by 100 °F (a difference of 56 °C). The additive is a combination of a

surfactant Surfactants are chemical compounds that decrease the surface tension between two liquids, between a gas and a liquid, or interfacial tension between a liquid and a solid. Surfactants may act as detergents, wetting agents, emulsifiers, foaming ...

metal deactivator Metal deactivators, or metal deactivating agents (MDA) are fuel additives and oil additives used to stabilize fluids by deactivating (usually by sequestering) metal ions, mostly introduced by the action of naturally occurring acids in the fuel a ...

, and an

antioxidant Antioxidants are compounds that inhibit oxidation, a chemical reaction that can produce free radicals. This can lead to polymerization and other chain reactions. They are frequently added to industrial products, such as fuels and lubricant ...

, and was introduced in 1994 to reduce choking and fouling in engine fuel systems. The additive is known as 8Q462, or Aeroshell Performance Additive 101, is manufactured by BetzDearborn (Now

GE Betz Veolia Water Technologies & Solutions (formerly SUEZ Water Technologies & Solutions) is a water technology company. It is part of Veolia Group and has operations in 130 countries in a variety of industries, including food and beverage, metals an ...

), and used at the ratio of 256 ppm, at cost of about $1 per 1000 gallons of fuel. Commercially, this additive is used in police helicopters in

Tampa, Florida Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and ...

. JP-8+100 is also used for Canadian Forces

CP-140 Aurora The Lockheed CP-140 Aurora is a patrol aircraft, maritime patrol aircraft operated by the Royal Canadian Air Force. The aircraft is based on the Lockheed P-3 Orion airframe, but mounts the electronics suite of the Lockheed S-3 Viking. Aurora ( ...

, CC-130 Hercules,

CF-18 Hornet The McDonnell Douglas CF-18 Hornet (official military designation CF-188) is a Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) variant of the American McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet fighter aircraft. In 1980, the F/A-18 was selected as the winner of the New ...

and the

CC-115 Buffalo The de Havilland Canada DHC-5 Buffalo is a short takeoff and landing ( STOL) utility transport turboprop aircraft developed from the earlier piston-powered DHC-4 Caribou. The aircraft has extraordinary STOL performance and is able to take off ...

. JP-8+100LT is a variant of JP-8+100, with additives to facilitate low-temperature performance. It is considered as a logistically friendly low-cost replacement of the

JPTS Jet Propellant Thermally Stable (JPTS) is a jet fuel originally developed in 1956 for the Lockheed U-2 reconnaissance aircraft. History Because of tight security restrictions enforced during the U-2's development, batches of fuel that were deliver ...

fuel for the

Lockheed U-2 The Lockheed U-2, nicknamed "''Dragon Lady''", is an American single-jet engine, high altitude reconnaissance aircraft operated by the United States Air Force (USAF) and previously flown by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). It provides day ...

airplane.

References

{{Reflist

External links

MIL-DTL-83133 technical specifications (includes JP-8)
United States Defense Energy Support Center
MIL-DTL-46162 referee fuel Diesel and JP-8
United States Defense Energy Support Center
Current United States Department of Defense Fuel Prices

JP-8 Material Safety Data Sheet
from Shell US Gas and Power Aviation fuels 1990 introductions

Usage

Problems and health concerns

Variants

See also

References

External links