Is water heavier than jet fuel and if added to both tanks would this cause engine's to cut out?

Question

Is water heavier than jet fuel and if added to both tanks would this cause engine's to cut out?

Answer 1

Water has a density of around 1000kg/m3 whereas fuel is around 850kg/m3. Fuel is always checked for water contamination before each flight. A sample is drawn off a special valve before very flight and water globules would be visible. As water sinks to the bottom of the tank all water can be drawn off easily if necessary. The fuel take off for the engines is always a little way up from the bottom of the tank to allow for any contaminants that may settle on the bottom and they will not get into the fuel lines - this is true for cars as well. I doubt if it was water contamination unless a very large amount got in.

Answer 2

yes

it would take a whole bunch of water in the fuel

to cause a flame out, not likely to have the quantity necessary  to really make that happen tho.

Answer 3

Water is not the problem ,. It is formation of ice in the fuel tank. Which can then destroy the boost tank pump and then the scrap metal will  clog up the fuel filter and then the fuel filter bypass  opens and then the scrap metal goes into the fuel nozzles and the engine driven fuel pump and shuts the engine down

Answer 4

Water has to be drained off..It's often -30-40 degrees in the altitudes that jet-liners fly..  The pre-flight,  for every plane I ever flew, is to drain any water off before you crank up.

Answer 5

Water can get in fuel tanks during refueling, if not using a a pressure point refueling point, during rain or high humidity days where water vapor can condense in cold temps.

Water can choke out the flame of a jet engine, but only in very large quanites. Older military jets acutally used to inject water into the engine to give them more thrust, physics 101, F=MA, as water adds more mass the air.

The bigger problem is water has the potential to freeze at high altitudes that will cause ice to form on the fuel filters, causing fuel restrictions that will inhibit fuel from flowing to the engines. The biggest problem is that water allows for  bacteria to thrive in the fuel tanks that feed off the hydrocarbon fuels, causing a film that can clog filters and fuel lines.

Answer 6

Jet fuel is 6.7 pounds per gallon

Answer 7

water is denser, and therefor, the same volume would be heavier than the most used jet fuel (Jet-A), and therefor, sink to the bottom. however, their specific gravities are close enough that water sometimes becomes suspended in the fuel. the only time water is a problem is when there's too much overall (the FAA says you can have a water concentration of no more than 330 parts per million (ppm)), or when lots of suspended water comes together and forms a big pocket that gets pulled in by the pump. water at the bottom is drained before flight via the sump

Answer 8

Hydrocarbon based fuels have a specific gravity of less than water and will therefore float on top of any water which contaminates the fuel.

As water is not combustible this would cause the engines to fail if the fuel/water ratio was sufficient.

Answer 9

If enough water got in it would, but this is a very easy design issue to solve - so extremely unlikely. Usually engines have separate intermediate tanks that are filled from main tanks as fuel is used - so both wouldn't cut out for this reason.

My best guess is that one engine had a problem and the idiot pilots shut down the wrong engine and then had both engines not working - I have had experience of this happening before.

Answer 10

Water is 8lbs per gallon and jet fuel is 6.5 lbs per gal. Because the fuel is drawn from the low point in the tanks if enough water was in the tank to cover the pick-up then it would cause the engines to shut down. If this were to happen the pilot would simply switch to a different tank and continue with the flight. Commercial A/C can have as many as 10 separate tanks divided between the wings, body and in some cases the horizontal tail. Fuel tanks on aircraft are well sealed and the chances of that much water entering any tank is very remote.