Cyclonic ice separation for low temperature jet fuels

Abstract

A cyclonic ice separator (72) is provided for removing ice from low temperature aviation fuels. The temperature of the fuel is lowered beneath the freezing point of water, such that significant amounts of dissolved water leaves solution and becomes free water, and the free water freezes and becomes filterable. The fuel is then passed through the cyclonic separator (72), which spins the fuel in an intense cyclonic spiral path 121 to create centrifugal forces which separate the ice from the fuel. Heating elements (110, 128) are provided within the cyclonic separator (72) to prevent blockage of ice and water discharge ports (118, 78). A mixture of fuel, ice and water is passed from the cyclonic separator (72) and into a reclamation unit (80), in which gravity separates a reclaimed portion of the fuel from the ice and water. The fuel is then passed through conventional aircraft filtration equipment (130).

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.