Determination of sulfur contaminants in military jet fuels

Military jet fuel samples have been characterized by gas chromatography with a sulfur chemiluminescence detector and a mass spectrometer (GC–SCD–MS). Sixteen distinct organosulfur compounds were quantified in the jet fuel samples. The structures and the concentrations for seven of them are determined in this study. Although the total sulfur content of jet fuel varies from sample to sample, the individual organosulfur distribution remains unchanged for six jet fuel samples obtained over a 4-year period. The two major sulfur compounds are determined to be 2,3-dimethylbenzothiophene and 2,3,7-trimethylbenzothiophene. These two major compounds are determined to be good representative compounds in jet fuel surrogates for computational studies of jet fuel catalysis such as JP-8 reformation.