Decontamination of petroleum products with hone

Mosier, J. R.

English

NASA Technical Reports Server

NATIONAL . AERONAUTICS AND SPACE 
WASIIINGTON, D C. 20546 
ADM IN ISTRATION 
March 3 0 ,  1971 
/ 
TO: USI/Scientific & Technical Information Division 
FROM : GP/Office of Assistant General 
Attention: Miss Winnie M. Morgan 
Counsel for Patent Matters 
SUBJECT: Announcement of NASA-Owned 
U.S, Patents in STAR 
In accordance with the procedures contained in the code GP 
to Code US1 memorandum on this subject, dated June 8, 1970, 
the attached NASA-owned U.S. patent is being forwarded for 
abstracting and announcement in NASA STAR, 
The following information is provided: 
U.S. Patent No. : 3,393,059 
Corporate Source : California I n s t i t u t e  of Technology 
Supplementary 
Corporate Source : Jet Propulsion Laboratory 
NASA Patent Case No.: XNP-03835 
Please note that this patent covers an invention made by an 
employee of a NASA contractor. Pursuant to Section 305(a) of 
the National Aeronautics and Space Act, the name of the 
Administrator of NASA appears on the first page of the patent; 
however, the name of the actual inventor (author) appears at 
the heading of Column No. 1 of the Specification, following the 
words II. . . with respect to an invention of. . . . I1 
Enclosure: 
copy of Patent 
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=19710014023 2020-03-17T03:03:46+00:00Z
bacteria, fungi and yeasts. e microbes are believed to 
be introduced into the he1 tank of the aircraft during fuel- 
ing due to contamination of the fuel with water andlor 
particulate matter. It has been found that maximum 
growth of the microbes appears to be concentrated at the 
fuel-water interface, and that an aqueous phase must be 
No Drawing. Filed May 18, 1965, Sex. No, 456,$~ present for active growth to occur. It is certain that organic 
4 Claims. (el. 48-77) acids and other metabolic products produced by the 
microbes are capable of corroding metals. Laboratory 
studies have demonstrated that topcoatings can be de- 
lo graded by attached microbes and that the underlying metal A CT OF THE E 
The patent describes a means and method of effectively can become corroded. In addition to acid-producing abili- 
controlling bacteria growth in petroleum products, as well ties, the moisture-holding properties of microbes may also 
as trapping other impurities such as water and solid par- induce corrosion. 
ticles which normally settle to the bottom of stored petro- As has already been indicated, the effective control of 
leum products by the use of a small effective amount of l5 microbes, water and partioulate matter in the fuel is neces- 
honey. sary for many reasons. 
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to pro- 
vide a novel means whereby bacterial growth in hydro- ORIGIN OF INVENTXON 
The invention described herein was made in the per- Another object of this invention is to provide a means 
formance of work under a NASA contract and is subject for trapping other impurities such as water and particulate 
to the provisions of Section 305 of the National Aeronau- matter normally present in petroleum fuels. 
tics and Space Act of 1958, Public Law 85-568 (72 Stat. More particularly, it is an object of this invention to 
435; 42 U.S.C. X 5 7 ) .  25 provide a means for maintaining jet fuel in a state which 
With the increased refinement in jet engines, the fuel is substantially free of contaminants. 
specifications for jet fuels have become increasingly restric- These, and other objects of the invention wiIl become 
tive. The elimination Of Contaminating materials such as apparent from the detailed description which follows. 
water, particulate matter, and microbes is particularly im- Briefly, the present invention relates to the discovery 
portant. The reasons become apparent upon consideration that bacterial growth in normally liquid hydrocarbon-type 
of the volume of fuel handled in a modern jet engine- 30 petroleum products, such as kerosene, is effectively con- 
For example, a large modern jet engine can burn in excess trolled by the addition of ordinary honey to the bottom 
of 1,m gallons of fuel Wr hour. Because of the med of the fuel storage tank. Secondary effects accomplished 
to handle increased volumes of fuel and operate fueling by the use of honey are that it traps dirt, water and other 
systems at much higher throughput rates, the Presence Of 35 partidate material entrained in the jet fuel. 
even very small amounts of contaminants can cause seri- It has been found that absolutely no mixing or com- 
OUS problems. Further, conventional jet fuels have both bining takes place between ordinary honey and jet fuel 
a higher viscosity and a greater Specific gravity than simple such as JP-4, or other essentially hydrocarbon fuels 
aviation gasoline. Both Of these factors make removal Of which are liquids at ambient storage temperatwe. There- 
contaminants through settling and other known means 4o fore, a fuel tank where fuel will be stored for a sub- 
more difficult. stantial period of time can be partially filled with honey 
Water, particulate matter, and microbes can act SignlY and completely filled with kerosene. In general, the honey 
or in combination to cause a variety Of fuel troubIes. Air- is simply placed in the bottom of the fuel storage tank 
craft fuel filters may be fouled by the formation of ice or other containesr and the kerosene is added. The amount 
or by the accumulation of solids. Precision 'fitted moving of honey us& is not critical since even small amounts 
parts found in fuel controls can be easily jammed and *' reduce the amount of contamination in the fuel. The 
damaged by particulate matter. Fuel gages and flow honey is usually present in an effective decontaminating 
dividers malfunction when contaminated by foreign ma- amount sufficient to cover the bottom of the storage tank 
terial. In addition, it has been found that the contaminants up to 5 or 10% by volume of fuel. 
are responsible for the wing tank corrosion which has been 5o The following example illustrates the invention. 
observed in aircraft, wherein the wing itself is used as the 
Example fuel tank, Analyses of corroded areas have revealed, be- 
sides aluminum products, the presence of iron oxides, Into a 100 gallon storage tank is placed l gallon of 
alkali metal salts, and silica. Water removed from the air- honey and about 80 gallons of commercial JP-4. After 
craft has frequently shown high concentrations of salt 55 storage for several weeks, the following effects were ob- 
and other minerals to be present. Studies of the slime ma- served: 
terials in water have also revealed the presence of micro- (1) The honey attracts and holds water at the pe- 
organisms. troleum-honey interface. This hygroscopic action pre- 
Of the particulate matter found in jet fuels, iron oxides vents the re-entry of this water into the petroleum prod- 
comprise the bulk. This follows from the fact that iron oo uct, 
is the most common material used in the construction of (2)  Honey is a bacteriocide and prevents the growth 
fuel-handling and transportation systems. Iron rust is of rust and slime-causing bacteria and all other bac- 
believed to play an importallt part in the corrosion phe- teria normally found in petroleum product tank-bottom 
nomenon. It has the ability to  hold free water on its sur- waters. 
face and is known to accelerate the development of cer- ( 3 )  Honey lowers the freezing point of entrained 
tain bacteria in fuel systems. Its tendency to become firmly 65 water. 
attached to coating materials is believed to be instrumen- (4) Honey effectively serves as a petroleum product 
tal in causing perforation of coatings. filter by trapping and permanently holding all particu- 
It has been found that many of the microorganisms late matter such as dust, grit, metal particles and the 
which exist in kerosene fuels, can actually utilize hydro- like. 
carbons as an energy source in their metabolisms. Many ( 5 )  The honey will not deterioratc if 22% minimum 
forms of microorganisms have been identified, including water balance is maintained. Also, the compound can be 
A~POWdlP- 
n- 
2o carbon petroleum products is effectively controlled. 
filtered at intervals to remove trapped impurities and is . The novel method for the storage of a normally 
100% reusable. liquid hydrocarbon petroleum product to prevent the ac- 
(6) The honey is nonexplosive and nonflammable. cumulation of contamination which comprises covering 
The kerosene which can be beneficially stored in the the bottom of a storage tank with honey, and then adding 
presence of honey according to my invention is of the 5 the fuel thereto for storage. 
. ordinary commercial type having a distillation end point 
of 625“ F. maximum, and a flash point of 115” F. min- 
imum. However, the invention is also applicable to the 
wide variety of hydrocarbon-type petroleum products 
subject to contamination problems, a$ will be apparent 2,975sM2 311961 &~mmers ------------ 44-78 
to those skilled in the art. 
Havihg fully described the invention, it is intended 
that it be limited only by the lawful scope of the a p  McCulloch: “Disinfection and Sterilization,” 2nd edi- 
pended claims. 
What is claimed is: Gregory: “Uses and Applications of Chemicals and 
1. A novel composition of matter comprising a nor- l5 Related Materials,” vel. 11, 1944, P. 319- 
mally liquid hydrocarbon petroleum product contain- Them. Absts.”-49: 13356s K. Ehergard Meier and 
ing a smdl effective decontaminating amount of honey. Gerhart Freitag, “Z. Hyg. Infektions” &ankh, 141, 
2. A novel composition of matter comprtsing kern 
sene jet fuel containing therein a small effective decon- 20 
taminating amount of honey. 
3. The composition of claim 1 wherein the honey is 
present in an amount up to about 6% by volume of 
said hydrocarbon petroleum product. 
eferences Cited 
UNITED STATES PATENTS 
ER REFERENCES 
tion, 1945, p. 174. 
1955, PP. 326-32. 
DANIEL E. WYMAN, Primary Exminer. 
Assfstant Examiner. 


Decontamination of petroleum products Patent

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

NASA Technical Reports Server