MICRO-SAMPLE ANALYSIS OF AVIATION TURBINE FUELS BY RAMAN SPECTROSCOPY

WE SEEK TO UTILIZE LASER RAMAN SCATTERING TO DETERMINE THE CHEMICAL MAKEUP OF AVIATION TURBINE FUELS. SINCE THE MAKEUP OF FUEL MIXTURES REQUIRES CAREFUL BALANCE AMONG COMPONENTS AND REPRODUCIBLE CONSISTENCY OF MIXTURE, IT IS ESSENTIAL TO BE ABLE TO QUICKLY AND RELIABLY DETERMINE THE IDENTITY AND RELATIVE AMOUNTS OF THE ACTIVE CHEMICAL COMPONENTS PRESENT IN THE FUEL BATCH. SUCH TESTING SHOULD NOT ONLY BE QUICK, BUT ALSO BE CAPABLE OF HIGH RESOLUTION AMONG COMPONENTS, AND BE OBTAINABLE ON SMALL QUANTITIES OF FUEL SAMPLE. FOR SUCH A TASK, THE ANALYTICAL TECHNIQUE OF LASER RAMAN SCATTERING IS IDEAL. THE SPECTRAL FEATURES FROM LASER RAMAN SPECTROSCOPY ARE SO WELL DEFINED FOR A GIVEN TYPE OF FUEL THAT WE EXPECT THAT THE RAMAN SPECTRAL BANDS FROM SUCH FUEL MIXTURES MAY SERVE TO PROVIDE A CLEAR AND REPRODUCIBLE STANDARD FOR THE DETERMINATION OF BATCH CONTENT AND MIXTURE PROPORTIONS, SUITABLE FOR THE STATED OBJECTIVES OF AIR FORCE SOLICITATION AF89-147.