Catalytic inerting system with fuel vapor enrichment

An inerting system for a fuel tank containing a liquid fuel and an ullage gas, the inerting system comprising:

• a fluid circuit fluidly connectable to the fuel tank;
• an evaporator connected in the fluid circuit, the evaporator being configured to receive a flow of the liquid fuel from the fuel tank and volatilize at least a portion of the liquid fuel to thereby form a volatilized fuel vapor, and wherein the evaporator is configured to receive a flow of the ullage gas from the fuel tank, and is configured to permit the ullage gas to sweep away the volatilized fuel vapor downstream with the ullage gas to thereby form a fuel-enriched gas mixture containing the ullage gas and the volatilized fuel vapor;
• and
• a reactor connected in the fluid circuit downstream of the evaporator, the reactor being configured to convert at least a portion of the fuel-enriched gas mixture into a non-flammable gas;
• and
• wherein:
• the fluid circuit is configured to supply at least a portion of the non-flammable gas to the fuel tank,
• the fluid circuit includes an ullage supply passage for fluidly connecting the evaporator with the fuel tank to enable the ullage gas to be supplied from the fuel tank to the evaporator,
• a portion of the liquid fuel that is not volatilized by the evaporator remains as unevaporated liquid fuel,
• the fluid circuit includes a liquid fuel return passage configured to return the unevaporated liquid fuel to the fuel tank, and
• the ullage supply passage is shared with the liquid fuel return passage.