Why does Boeing and Airbus planes or other commercial airplanes need to use kerosene?

Question

I know that aircraft engines need a lot of power and is it because of that it need to use kerosene because of its pure and cleaner burn

Answer 1

High flash point.
Low vaporization.
Low freezing point.
Easy to handle.
good energy density.
Low cost.
Nuff said-

Answer 2

Boeing. I have flown on A-300, A310. A319. A320. 321 and 330. in both economy and business class, on five different airlines.. Never flew on a 340 or 380. Business class seats are sometimes OK, but Economy seating on every Airbus in a flight of more than an hour duration, gives me back pain. I cannot explain why, it hust happens and is consistent over th eyears. Cushions help, but if faced with flying Airbus on a long trip I would rather stay home. I noted someone here claims to be an aircraft mechanic and loves Airbus, but the engineers I know are not fond of Airbus except when they are new. Their complaint is Airbus has tended to make many, many, alterations to their part selections when building, with the result that parts used in one build sequence are often not interchangeable with earlier or later builds of the same model series. Manufacturers do this on a geat many things, but airplanes are needed in the air, and delays are a huge cost to airlines. Part incompatibility adds to airline costs when something fails, as they cannot afford to have a full inventory and use pool arrangements for parts, (sharing a parts pool with other airlines) but even though two aircraft appear identical, and may have been produced within months of each other, part incompatibility is not uncommon and means having to search for the correct part. That tends to keep parts costs high,which raises operating expense and this ultimately shows up in ticket costs, while the delays add to passenger costs whenever a flight is delayed or cancelled. @Nico How the poor quality seats come into Airbus equipment is, to me, irrelevant. The expressed concern is that there is a problem, and that problem is consistent on Airbus equipment, regardless of model, as the airccraft I have experienced were operated by five different airlines Nico There is no misunderstanding. I have been in the business for many years. The mentioned problems with seats have applied with FIVE airlines using Airbus equipment, in North America and in Asia. I have flown on every Boeing 700 series and the earlier Douglas (later Mc Donnel-Douglas) planes of all versions, from DC3 upwards but have experienced nothing like the Airbus. (admittedly the DC3 was NOT a comfortable seat), and a variety of prop planes. . As stated, I do not know the exact reason, but it has been consistent and was found with each airline.. Please also note, this is not a nominal discomfort: they bring on real pain and on a long flight it builds into severe pain.

Answer 3

In the early days of jet power the air planes used high test gasoline in the jet engines but they kept burning the tails off so they downgraded to kerosene. The air planes don't have as much power but they seem to last longer.

Answer 4

They don't "need" to use it. It was chosen as the fuel of choice for its heating value. A jet engine will run just fine on the same gas you put in your car. However it was not designed for car gas, and it would eventually show accelerated wear.

In very cold climates the jet fuel turns into a jelly, and its to thick to pump. That is when they use a product called Jet-B which is a mixture of aviation kerosene and wide cut gasoline to thin it out.


----if you think there is such as thing as "pre ignition" in a jet engine you need your head examined.

Answer 5

Aviation fuel is more powerful than regular gasoline and has special additives to improve its performance and reduce its inherent dangerous properties. Aviation fuel is typically categorized into two types: avgas and jet fuel.

Avgas (aviation gasoline) is used mainly in piston engine aircraft, and is currently utilized on a small scale, mainly by small airplanes and helicopters, but also a few military and civilian transports powered by large piston engines. It is a high-octane gasoline, very volatile and extremely flammable at normal operating temperatures, thus special safety procedures and equipment are in place for its utilization. Avgas is currently available in different concentrations of tetra-ethyl lead, a relatively toxic substance added to achieve high-octane ratings.

Jet fuel is the more common aviation fuel used worldwide in turbine engine aircraft, and is either kerosene based or a mix of gasoline and kerosene. Jet engines can operate with a wide variety of fuels, fuels with higher flash points – such as jet fuels – are more desirable due to their low flammability which makes them easier to transport and handle.

Check out these websites for more detailed info:

http://www.exxonmobilaviation.com/AviationGlobal/default.asp

http://www.bp.com/homepage.do?categoryId=6100&contentId=58990

Answer 6

Higher flash point, makes then easy to burn in a jet engine. Low freezing point keeps then in liquid form while cruising at high altitudes, where temperatures are way below freezing. Let's not mention that is is much cheaper he.
Jet Engines have much higher operating temperatures then piston engines. normal gasoline would most likelly pre-ignite in these engines, causing failure in the system.

Answer 7

At this stage of engine technology refined kerosene must be used.

Answer 8

The jet engine works best with kerosene(parrifin) as its fuel. Though it would run on diesle only not as effiecently

Answer 9

That's what fuel they burn. But it's a very specific type of kerosine. For more details visit. http://www.csgnetwork.com/jetfuel.html

Answer 10

for the reason that is not yet exists another type of jet fuel