Product

Jet fuel (also called Aviation Turbine Fuel, ATF) is a highly refined, kerosene-based liquid fuel specifically formulated for use in gas-turbine engines powering commercial, private, and military aircraft. It appears clear to pale yellow in colour with a characteristic petroleum odour and is a middle distillate product boiling in the approximate range of 150–288 °C.

Chemical Composition

Jet fuel manufactured from crude petroleum oil consists of an extensive range of paraffinic hydrocarbons distributed across multiple carbon numbers. A typical Jet A composition comprises approximately 20% normal paraffins (n-alkanes), 40% isoparaffins (isoalkanes), 20% naphthenes (cycloalkanes), and 20% aromatics, with carbon number 10 carrying the highest weight-% of n-alkanes and isoalkanes, and carbon number 11 the highest weight-% of cycloalkanes and aromatics.

The overall aromatic concentration in Jet A is limited to a maximum of 25% by volume under ASTM D1655, as higher aromatic content reduces the hydrogen-to-carbon ratio and lowers the net heat content per unit mass compared to a paraffinic fuel of the same carbon number. However, aromatic content cannot be reduced to zero: a minimum level is required to swell elastomeric seals in aircraft fuel systems — if aromatics are too low, seals shrink and the fuel system leaks. This dual constraint — maximum for energy density and combustion cleanliness, minimum for seal compatibility — defines the aromatic window unique to jet fuel specification.

Physical and Operational Properties

Jet fuel is distinguished from other petroleum distillates by a tightly controlled combination of properties required for safe, reliable operation across the extreme conditions of high-altitude flight:

• Flash point: Minimum 38 °C (Jet A/A-1), ensuring safe ground handling

• Freeze point: ≤ −40 °C (Jet A) or ≤ −47 °C (Jet A-1), preventing wax crystal formation at cruise altitudes where ambient temperatures fall below −50 °C

• Net calorific value: ~43.2 MJ/kg, providing the high specific energy required for turbine combustion efficiency

• Thermal stability: Resistance to decomposition and deposit formation in hot fuel system components (JFTOT test, ASTM D3241)

• Lubricity: Sufficient to protect fuel system pumps and control valves

• Smoke point: Minimum 25 mm, ensuring clean combustion and limiting soot and particulate formation

Production

Jet fuel is produced from straight-run kerosene drawn from the atmospheric distillation tower and subsequently upgraded by hydrotreating — removing sulphur, nitrogen, and unstable olefins — or from the kerosene fraction recovered from a hydrocracker operating on heavier gas oil feedstocks. Both routes yield a product meeting ASTM D1655 or DEF STAN 91-091 specification. A mandatory additive package is blended into the finished fuel, comprising antioxidants, static dissipator, corrosion inhibitor, and thermal stability improver.

Grades

The principal commercial and military grades are:

Jet A-1 is the dominant global commercial grade, used at virtually all international airports outside the United States and referenced in all major fuel price indices (IATA, Platts, Argus). Jet B is the only other jet fuel in regular civilian use, employed specifically for its cold-weather performance advantage in Arctic and sub-Arctic operations.

References

1. Ijaz Hussain, Saheed A Ganiyu, Hassan Alasiri, Khalid Alhooshani, A state-of-the-art review on waste plastics-derived aviation fuel: Unveiling the heterogeneous catalytic systems and techno-economy feasibility of catalytic pyrolysis, Energy Conversion and Management, Volume 274, 2022, 116433, ISSN 0196-8904
2. ASTM International, ASTM D1655: Standard Specification for Aviation Turbine Fuels, American Society for Testing and Materials, West Conshohocken, PA, 2022
3. UK Ministry of Defence, DEF STAN 91-091: Turbine Fuel, Aviation Kerosene Type, Jet A-1, NATO Code F-35, Defence Standardization, Issue 9, 2016
4. SKYbrary Aviation Safety, Jet Fuel, European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation (EUROCONTROL), 2022
5. Shell Aviation, Civil Jet Fuel Grades and Specifications, Shell Global, 2026
6. Shell Aviation, Military Jet Fuel Grades and Specifications, Shell Global, 2026
7. US National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), Physical and Chemical Properties of Military Fuels — JP-5, JP-8, National Academies Press, 1995
8. Topsoe, Kerosene Hydrotreating — Dearomatisation for Jet A and Jet A-1 upgrade, Haldor Topsoe A/S
9. US Energy Information Administration (EIA), Hydrocracking is an important source of diesel and jet fuel, EIA Today in Energy, 2013
10. Petroleum HPV Testing Group, Kerosene / Jet Fuel — Substance Category Description, American Petroleum Institute, 2012