New polymer may hold key to reducing plane explosions

Posted on 19 Oct 2015 by Cobey Bartels

A new polymeric fuel additive that reduces the intensity of post-accident jet fuel explosions has been discovered by researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).

The findings were published in the October 2 issue of Science, outlining the ability for the new polymer to reduce the tendency for jet fuel to form highly combustible droplets known as ‘misting’ during impact. The polymer molecules are described to form long chains – or ‘megasupramolecules’ – which make misting more controllable during impact.…

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